Egon's Past
by SanJohn
Summary: Egon's past comes back to haunt him.  Who is the women in his life now?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The door slammed and footsteps could be heard running across the floor.

Professor Egon Spengler looked up from his workbench at the clock. It hung on the wall in front of him next to pictures of family and friends on both sides. Shaking his head he saw that the clock read five o'clock. He sighed and looked around the room.

His work room was a mess, neatly organized, but a mess none the less. The wall in front of Egon held his workbench with half finished projects. His tools hung overhead and two drawers underneath held his paperwork. His chair with wheels sat in the middle. In front of him on the bench lay parts of a PKE meter, proton pack, ghost trap, and ecto-goggles.

To Egon's left was his collection of spores, mold, and fungus. Underneath these shelves was an assortment of reptiles each housed in a fish tank, complete with wire mesh lids and light bulbs for heat. Egon smiled slightly as he remembered when Peter first saw it. Peter declared the room a hazard zone and the next day, to make a point, brought a skull and crossbones sign and hung it on the door. Ray completed the look with a "Do Not Enter" sign and Winston, not to be left out, put up a "Do Not Cross" police tape. The remnants still hung there today, many years later.

Laying down the screwdriver that he had been using to fix an old ghost trap, Egon pushed back in his chair and swiveled around. He now saw his computer desk in front of him and to the left; across from the collection of spores, mold, fungus, and reptiles; was the best thing he ever bought. At least so he thought. A beautiful walnut finished Steinway grand piano.

Closing his eyes Egon thought back to better days. Days spent listing to a beautiful young woman playing that piano with such passion. And her voice. An angels voice. Her soprano voice ringing with songs of love and happiness. Singing songs from different operas. How he loved the opera.

The water being turned on in the bathroom startled him from his thoughts. Egon opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. Shaking his head he stood up. Being careful to step around the raised platform in the middle of the room, complete with chair and music stand, Egon made his way to the door next to the collection wall. Looking back, he smiled and turned out the lights before closing the door.

Placing his right hand on the railing, Egon climbed the basement steps to the first floor. In front of him was the kitchen. The clock that hung on the wall now read 5:15 p.m.

"You know we are going to be late getting to the 'Met' tonight?" he called to the person in the bathroom.

"Not my fault. Class ran over at the University." came a female voice. "Besides it's New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) tonight."

Egon furled his brows. "It's Madam Butterfly tonight, right?" he asked.

"No. That's tomorrow." came the answer.

"I can't keep up with your schedule you know." Egon replied.

"I wrote it all down. Check the calendar Professor Spengler!"

Egon smiled. When she called him Professor Spengler she was always teasing him.

Egon turned left and walked across to the calendar that hung on the wall next to the front door. This was one of those big desk calendar types. It was marked with different colored pens. On the side was a legend with what each color stood for. It read as follows:

Red=NJPAC

Blue=Metropolitan Opera

Green=Orchestra

Black=Singing

Next to this was a side note that read:

P=Piano

Cl=Clarinet

Ce=Cello

Written inside today's box was

NJPAC

Orchestra = Ce

Organization to a "T". Just like him. The water turned off just then and Egon knew he only had about five minutes before she would come out.

"Black Tie Affair?" he asked.

"No." came the reply, "Sunday Best."

Egon heaved a sigh of relief. Something told him this morning, maybe her leaving, that he needed to wear a suit today. Crossing to his left he paused at the door to his bedroom. The date on the calendar he had just been looking at didn't register until now. A chill took him by surprise! Was it really ten years?

"What's wrong? You look like you have seen a ghost."

Egon jumped. He hadn't heard her come up behind him. She had a white bathrobe on and her hair was wrapped up in a towel.

"I startled you. I'm sorry." she said.

"No." he replied, "My fault. I just realized what day it is."

Concern crossed her face. "I know it isn't easy for you. Remember it is not easy for me either. If you wish to stay home tonight I will understand."

"No. I have to go." Egon paused. "To honor the memory." he whispered.

"I'll drive then." She said and with that she hugged Egon and planted a kiss on his forehead. "Remember…" she started to say.

"I love you." they both finished together.

She laughed and turned away from him taking the towel off her wet hair as she went.

"Bring the 'Strad' with you please when we go out to the car," she said as she walked down the hall to change her clothes.

Egon turned back to the bedroom door and opened it. His eyes were beginning to fill with tears. Today of all days. How could he have forgotten? Inside were memories. Good memories of her. In front of him was a four poster bed. How many times had he held her in his arms in that bed? The quiet talking to each other. The hopes and dreams of tomorrow. The passionate love making. Egon blinked away the tears. A chest of drawers stood to the right and a closet to the left. Her parents gave her that chest of drawers. It was a gift for when … Egon grabbed the door frame now. Night stands on each side that she had picked out for him on his birthday.

"Oh forgive me Eden." he cried to the empty room. A single tear slid down his cheek and he hastily wiped it away. Removing the white lab coat that he had been wearing, Egon tenderly laid it at the foot of the bed. Crossing to the closet he grabbed his suit jacket from the hanger. He didn't want to turn around. He didn't want to find Eden not there. Everything in the room reminded him of her. After all it was here that ….

Shaking, he grabbed the closet door for support. Hanging his head and closing his eyes he muttered. "I'm sorry I forgot about you today Eden."

A voice almost as if someone was next to him said, "It's fine. Now go on my dear."

Egon opened his eyes in surprise. "Eden?" he questioned the empty room, but no one was there. Letting go of the closet door, Egon pulled on his suit jacket and reverently closing the door he exited the room. Egon then continued straight ahead to the living room.

Egon got the hard plastic case from the corner and went to where the cellos sat in a row. A Yamaha cello; a superb quality for when she was just starting out. This was her first cello. Dana and Peter had gotten her this for her birthday. She had outgrown it in a little less then a year. The next was a Otto Benjamin. An intermediate cello that was hand-carved from highly seasoned tone-woods with a deep rich tone. This replaced her Yamaha and she played it for many years. The prize of the group was the last cello. A 1714 "Batta" Stradivari on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Recently received to play on, she only had this one about six months. Dana had pulled strings for him to get this cello for her. Carefully taking the "Batta" cello from its red velvet box he placed it lovingly in the case. Closing the locks on the front he could hear the back door closing. A moment later the car engine started. "Better get going." he told himself.

Picking up the cello he let himself out the back door. After opening up the back door of the car and placing the cello onto the backseat Egon got into the passenger side. She waited for him to put on his seatbelt and then backing the car out of the driveway the pair was on their way.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Egon looked over at the young woman driving. She was thinly built with long medium brown hair and light green eyes. Light tan butterfly type glasses sat on her face. In her early twenties she wore a black velvet/chiffon empire gown with short sleeves. Egon looked at himself in the rear view mirror. Was he really getting older? Early fifty's already? Starting to get some grey hair and getting a bit overweight? He had on a blue suit with grey vest and bow tie. Thin brown framed glasses sat on his face.

"So," he enquired, "How was school?" Egon had heard this from Peter when he was teaching school and would tease her with it.

She laughed. "Peter use to say that to you a lot? Well, the morning classes that I taught went well." she told him. "The afternoon classes that I took were a different story."

"Doctor Pla still giving you a hard time?"

"That's an understatement!" she snorted.

"What happened today?"

"When I told him last week that I was playing the cello at NJPAC tonight and needed to leave early from his class he said he understood. As the week rolled along I reminded him each day until this morning at the staff meeting he told me that I needed to stay for the whole class or I would be repeating his class again."

"He would fail you?"

"Yes. And not only that, but he would make me take the whole semester again."

"Did you speak to the President about this?"

"Oh so many times I lost count. This isn't the first time you know. He sides with Doctor Pla."

"But you should be graduating early. You only have two months left."

"Tell that to Budgie-brain!"

Egon laughed. "You have been talking to Ray haven't you?"

"Yes, and Ray agrees with you. Even though I am the youngest student there, at the top of all my classes, with straight A's, it's the teaching position that I was given that Doctor Pla hates the most."

Egon fell silent and thought about this a moment. Many a night they had this conversation. Was she too young to take a teaching position at the University? Her peers would be taking classes from someone their own age and younger if the students were seniors. Could her students handle this? Then there was his status. Professor Egon Spengler; Department Head of Psychology at Columbia University. Would this have any bearing on her career?

And then what about her musical career? Could she juggle both? Teaching and performing? But her musical career was not just one instrument as normal people would do. It was three instruments that she played and performed with, not counting her singing. Having graduated from Juilliard School of Music two years prior she was the only one, so far, that had earned three doctoral degrees while she was there.

First came the piano which she had mastered at a early age. Having done that she next moved on to the clarinet. When she went into Juilliard she had only been playing the cello a year. That had been her last endeavor. Her scholarship had been for piano and clarinet, a double major, for which many schools were fighting for her.

Her skill at the piano surpassed many of her teachers while she had been there. While she struggled with the clarinet it was clear that she was becoming a promising young musician. The cello was a side project for her until one of the Professor's caught her practicing the Bach Suites one day before school in one of the 84 practice rooms on campus. As he listened to her he saw potential.

Having finished Bach Suite No. 3 the Bourree 1 and 2 he stepped into the room.

"How long have you been playing?" he questioned her.

"A little under a year." was her reply, getting ready to pack up.

"Stay here. DON'T pack up! And DON'T go away!" he ordered her.

This Professor, Clarke his name was, she found out later was head of the string department. Having gathered the other teachers there, he marched them back into the room where she had been practicing.

"Now if you could please play the Bourree 1 and 2 again, repeats and all, my colleagues and I would like to hear it from the top."

She had complied with his wishes doing the first movement at a good cheerful dance tempo. The second movement she had slowed down on to get the flats and position changes right and then repeated the first movement again throwing in trills on the triple stops where she hadn't done so the first time.

As she double stopped the last two C's the room fell silent. Applause broke out then the questions came flying.

"Less then a year? I wouldn't give any beginning student the Bach Suites to play!"

"This isn't your principal instrument? You play what! Piano and clarinet! You are not here for the cello?"

"Professor Clarke I want her in my class. She can teach my students a thing or two."

"She needs to try a different make of cello. That Yamaha isn't what she should be on. Someone bring me my Otto Benjamin. That's what she needs. Trust me."

"When did you start the Bach Suites? A month ago! With work, the second movement will be as good or better than the first."

All the while this was going on the bell rang for classes to start. "I need to go." she told them.

"Not today." said Professor Clarke. "Meredith go get your cello. We will meet you in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater. You!" he said pointing at her. "Pack up and follow me please."

She had done as she was told. Worried about missing her first class, Professor Clarke stopped off at the group clarinet class to let the teacher know she was with him and to please phone the President and let him know he was needed in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater.

Having reached the theater Professor Clarke found a chair and a music stand for her. Doctor Meredith Whipple arrived with her cello. She was arranged facing the audience and told to warm up on scales to get use to the new instrument. As she was finishing the President of the school walked in.

"Bob this better be good." he chastised the Professor.

"You don't want to miss this." he replied

Doctor Whipple asked her to play the Bourree once more. When she finished playing Meredith turned to Bob.

"I told you she needed a different cello. So much more power and tone from the Otto. Bravo!"

"Who is she?' the President questioned his colleagues.

"We don't know." Professor Clarke stated.

"I don't care. I want her." Doctor Whipple replied. And thus her cello career was born.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What are you smiling at?" she questioned him.

This brought Egon out of his thoughts.

"Oh, you know. Your time at Juilliard."

"Oh, how fun that was!" she teased him. "Early mornings, late nights, every weekend taken up with practicing, studying, and working."

"Wish you hadn't?"

"Oh No! That is what drives me. And besides, Dana would have killed me if I turned down the cello scholarship they offered me."

"True."

"I so enjoy teaching the students music at the University. I love how their eyes will 'light up' when they finally figure it out. The things that I can teach them to be better musicians. But my main love is the stage." she sighed. "I am so happy there. To give back to everyone who has helped me. You know what I mean."

"Yes I do. Eden enjoyed it also."

As Egon looked over he could see a tear slide down her right cheek. Gently wiping it away with his index finger, he muttered "Sorry to upset you."

"I just miss her so much." she replied pulling into the parking lot of NJPAC.

"As do I." Egon replied.

She parked the car and then led the way to the theater with Egon next to her, arm-in-arm, and her carrying a very old, very expensive cello.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Professor Spengler! Doctor Spengler! Wait up."

Egon stopped and turned around to find out who was calling them. The pair had been walking up the steps to the doors that lead to the main lobby of the NJPAC building.

It was Larry Goldman the President and CEO of NJPAC that had been hailing them. He came jogging up to them.

"Oh I am so glad I caught you two." President Goldman said.

"What's up?" she asked him, "Anything wrong?"

"Oh no." came the reply, "I just wanted you two to be the first to see it."

"See what?" Egon asked

"Didn't you tell him yet?" President Goldman asked furling his brows at her.

"No. I was going to show Professor Spengler tonight." she replied.

"Show me what?" Egon questioned her.

"Do you remember when I told you about NJPAC doing some renovations?" she asked him.

Egon thought back. The New Jersey Performing Arts Center of Newark had been a vibrant arts venue for over one hundred years. It was also in need of renovations. So in 2009, major renovations were undertaken to enhance and modernize the facility as part of an urban revitalization of the downtown Newark area.

"Yes" he said.

President Goldman chimed in now. "We got David Karp, Architect of the Barton Myers Associates from Los Angeles to develop our main lobby floor. You are going to love this Professor Spengler."

With President Larry Goldman leading the way Egon climbed the last set of stairs to the lobby doors. President Goldman held the door to his left while she held the door to his right open for him to walk through.

"It's a surprise." she whispered to him as he passed her.

Egon couldn't believe his eyes. Three stories in height and over 3,000 square feet of dramatic lobby space was implemented with contrasting circles of black and white granite slabs with tan/gold bands. The centerpiece was the NJPAC logo. It read:

just imagine

NJPAC

STANDING OVATION

Under this were the names to which it was dedicated to. The Prudential Foundation, The Raymond G Chambers Family, The Women's Association of NJPAC, Judy and Josh Weston, New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Eric F. & Lore Ross, Leon and Toby Cooperman, and Betty Wold Jobnson.

In each tan/gold circle around the black and white granite slabs was a word. Starting from his feet and working inwards towards the NJPAC logo it read: Applause, Prolonged Applause, Encore, Bravo, and Ovation.

Something caught his eye. Egon moved to his right. Radiating panels were engraved and inlaid to commemorate donors. Doctor Meredith Whipple. He knew that name. She had been her cello teacher at Juilliard. Egon walked some more looking at the floor and reading the names. He was now facing south east. He glanced up. President Goldman was leaning by the doors where they had just come in. He had his arms crossed and was smiling at him. He smiled back. No he wasn't smiling at him. He was smiling at her! President Larry Goldman nodded his head towards her.

Egon looked to his right. She stood across the room in front of him. What a beautiful sight to see. Her floor length dress covering the slabs from view. The setting sun lighting her back made the velvet/chiffon dress even more lovely on her. The light also caught on the white plastic of the cello case which was standing upright to her left.

A lump caught in his throat, for when he was crossing to meet her, he saw tears in her eyes. He could only imagine what was hidden under her feet from his view.

She started to say something. "It's for …" but couldn't finish as she broke down in tears.

Egon took her immediately into his arms. As he pulled her towards him she took a step off of the slab to reveal a name under her dress.

It read. "Eden"

Gently turning the sobbing young woman, Egon was able to see over her back the name engraved there.

Eden Spengler

Beloved Wife

Shocked, Egon sucked in a deep breath and looked again.

"I wanted you to remember her this way." the young women cried to Egon.

"Oh Honey," came his reply, "Eden wouldn't have had it any other way."

Egon lifted her head up with his hand. He removed her glasses and handing her a handkerchief from his jacket pocket he then removed his own glasses too. He planted a kiss on her forehead and then held her tight again as they both wept into each others arms.

"Doctor Spengler? Professor Spengler?" President Goldman gently asked after letting them have a private moment or two.

They broke their embrace. Egon handed her back her glasses. As she was wiping her eyes she nodded towards President Goldman to continue.

"Professor Spengler, can I dedicate this concert tonight to your wife Eden?"

This shocked Egon to his core. Eden. She was always there for everyone. She always got the fame, not him. Eden had been the opera singer. He was just the paranormal investigation and elimination specialist. He was someone who was laughed at. Eden was a legend. She was everything to him and now she was gone.

"Yes, but of course." Egon stammered.

"Very good." President Goldman said. "If you could just follow me Professor Spengler, I would like to have you sit in the orchestra tonight instead of your usual seat in the grand tier box. This way Sir."

"Thank you." Egon told her, settling his glasses on his face, before turning to follow President Goldman to his seat.

"Anything for you dear." she whispered as she watched him follow President Goldman into the theater. When he disappeared, she picked up the "Batta" and headed backstage.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

President Goldman showed Egon to his seat and handed him a program.

"The house will be opening up in fifteen minutes." he told Egon. "Is there anything you would like for me to get you before I go?"

"No thank you."

And with that President Goldman turned and walked back up the aisle to get ready for the concert.

Egon was sitting in the middle of the row, four rows back from the stage. The last time he had been this close was when he first met Eden.

"You can't do this." he told himself. "Tonight is her night."

In order to put his mind at ease he opened the program to read. After flipping through the first couple of pages he found her biography. A beautiful shot of her resting her head on the upper bouts of the "Batta" was on the left hand side of the program. On the right the bio read:

_Doctor Spengler, principal cellist. 2009 graduate of Juilliard School of Music. Doctoral degrees in performance for piano, clarinet, and cello. Early years were spent home schooled by Professor Egon Spengler, Doctor Ray Stantz, and Doctor Peter Venkman. Voice lessons taken from renowned principal Opera singer for the Metropolitan Opera Eden Spengler. Doctor Spengler has preformed with the NY Philharmonics next to Mrs. Dana Barrett-Venkman. She is finishing up her masters degree in Biology. Doctor Spengler plays a 1714 "Batta-Piatigorsky" violoncello by Antonio Stradivari. With the development of gut strings overspun with fine metal wire Mr. Stradivari was able to reduce the size of the cello, thereby improving its acoustical qualities and making it easier to play. Doctor Spengler's "Batta" is considered one of the best examples of this smaller, improved model._

_The "Batta-Piatigorsky" cello is named after the distinguished Dutch cellist Alexandre Batta who purchased it in Paris around 1836. In 1893 it was sold to the London dealer William E. Hill & Sons, who purchased it for the violin collector Baron Knoop. The great Russian-born cellist Gregor Piatigorsky acquired the instrument in 1956. The Metropolitan Museum of Art now owns the "Batta-Piatigorsky" cello and has loaned it to Doctor Spengler for tonight's performance. Having played many other instruments Doctor Spengler knows their qualities and shortcomings so she can exploit their good capabilities to full advantage. Doctor Spengler has played Steinways, Chickerings, Yamahas, Otto Meisters, Webers, and Young Chang pianos. Buffet Crampon, Yamaha, Etude, and Jupiter Clarinets. Yamaha, Otto Benjamin, Amati, and Stradivari cellos. The "Batta" she stated is bottomless in its resources, it spurred her on to try and reach its limitations for which there is none._

Egon looked up when he heard the theater doors opening behind him. In only half an hour the program would start. He turned to the page that listed what the orchestra was going to play. Most of the first half of the program was patriotic songs. "America the Beautiful", "Battle Hymn of the Republic," "God of Our Fathers, Whose Almighty Hand," "My Country, 'Tis of Thee," and finishing out the opening half "The Star-Spangled Banner."

The second half of the program was classical music. This was where she would shine. Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons-Spring and Autumn", Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5, op. 64 2nd movement, Holst's "The Planets-Uranus and Jupiter", Bach's Minuet No. 3 and Beethoven's Minuet in G, Breval's Sonata in C major Op. 40, No. 1, and rounding out the program Saint-Saens "The Swan" from Carnival of the Animals. This had been Eden's favorite song.

Egon closed his eyes. How many hours had she sat on that chair in the basement on that raised platform that he and Ray had built for her? Practicing her music, day in and day out, while he worked at the computer or on his projects at the workbench.

Egon laughed. That was when they had both discovered the same thing. Egon's spores' collection loved Bach. They thrived on it. Grew better and quicker. The mold's liked Beethoven and the fungus were into Mozart. She would have to arrange her practicing schedule around how the collection was growing. Too much of one would lead her to play a different composer the next week. After all they didn't want an outbreak of one over the other. This also worked for her clarinet and piano practicing also.

"Who knew that those buggers liked classical music." Peter told him one day when he, Dana, and Oscar had come over for a visit. Peter, Oscar and he spent the time in the basement talking. Well really Peter and he talked, while Oscar played the piano. Dana had taught him at a young age. Now at 14 years of age he did very well for himself. Peter was hoping Oscar would get a scholarship to Juilliard.

"Dana really would like him to go there." Peter told Egon.

"He has such talent." Egon agreed.

"He gets it from his mother. I can't even sing in tune." Peter replied.

Meanwhile, upstairs she and Dana had cello practice where there was more room. Dana had brought her Amati cello along and she had her Yamaha that Dana and Peter had just given her last month for her birthday. They would practice scales, etudes, and any other easy music Dana could get her hands on. Because of her training on the piano and clarinet, Dana could see it was clear that once she got the basic techniques down the cello was as good as hers.

The sound of clapping and feet on the stage in front of him brought Egon out of his daydream. The orchestra was filing into the theater. They all stood while they waited for the conductor to come onto the stage. Egon looked to see were she was as he somehow missed her coming in. The first cello chair was empty. Was something wrong? She was never late. The only time she didn't come out with the orchestra was when she had a solo, but that was the second half of the program.

The orchestra started to applaud just then as Conductor Maestro Neeme Jarvi (pronounced nam-eh yair-ve) walked onto the stage from Egon's left. After taking a bow he gestured for the orchestra to be seated and then he went over to the first cello's seat and sat down. That was her seat.

Now Egon knew something wasn't right. The audience knew it too. Whispers could be heard.

"Where is Doctor Spengler?"

"She is way to young, maybe she got frightened and can't play."

"Today is extremely hard on her. Emotionally she is probably a wreck."

Egon was about ready to get up from his seat to go and find her when President Larry Goldman came onto the stage from the right.

Raising both his hands to quite the crowd he began to speak.

"First off let me tell you all that Doctor Spengler is fine. I wanted to do something a little different tonight. She will be out in a few moments to play but I would like to speak to you first."

"On Sunday we celebrate ten years since 9/11, that fateful day as we all watched the Twin Towers on television. The North Tower being hit first between the 93rd and 99th floors and then to everyone's horror the South Tower being hit between the 77th and 85th floors."

Egon swallowed hard. Tears were starting to form in the corners of his eyes. He needed to be there for her. She needed him too, he knew.

President Goldman continued.

"Tonight's concert is in memory of everyone who lost their lives that day. Maestro Neeme Jarvi and I also wanted to dedicate this concert to someone else tonight."

"Maestro Jarvi met this young woman when he directed the orchestra at the Metropolitan Opera. She was an unknown chorus girl who showed a lot of promise. Taking her under his wing she became the lead opera singer there. Her voice was in high demand all over the world. She toured several times a year in several countries as a guest artist."

"She eventually fell in love and married a prominent member of the New York community. At this time she was noted for her extraordinary piano skills too. This kept her doubly busy with more concerts and performances. Her husband always lovingly supporting her in all her endeavors."

"On the morning of September 11th she was in the Windows of the World Restaurant going over an interview that CBS was going to be doing that night with her at the Metropolitan Opera. That day we lost a great talent."

Egon could see a tear sliding down President Goldman's cheek. Tears were threatening to fall from his own eyes. The Maestro Neeme Jarvi was wiping his eyes with a white hanky he had taken from his jacket pocket.

"Many of you know about whom I am speaking." President Goldman continued. " I am talking about none other than Opera singer Eden Spengler, beloved wife of Professor Egon Spengler; Department Head of Psychology at Columbia University. Her name is engraved in a white granite tile in our front lobby. Many of you have seen it when you walked in tonight, as many of you commented to me about it."

"There is a little known fact that no one here knows. Professor Egon Spengler's wife wasn't the only one that we lost that day. Doctor Spengler has a secret that she would like everyone to know."

Egon looked shocked. He was sure his face was as white as a ghost. She wouldn't do this would she? They had promised not to tell anyone, hadn't they?

"Professor Egon Spengler." President Goldman now spoke to Egon directly. "Doctor Spengler begs your forgiveness at this moment. She wants you to know she loves you unconditionally and is sorry for all the wrong that she has caused you to this day."

President Goldman looked away from Egon and spoke to the audience once again.

"Eden Spengler was with child when she was wrongfully taken from us that day. An unborn baby boy."

As gaps and whispers could be heard from the audience Maestro Neeme Jarvi had gotten up from the first cellos seat and was coming forward towards President Goldman. He carried something black in his hands.

Egon was beyond the capability for rational thought. Just like when he faced Gozer the Gozerian those many years ago.

"Professor Egon Spengler." President Goldman spoke to him again. As he was speaking a spot light appeared upon Egon.

"I had you seated in the orchestra row for a reason tonight. If you haven't noticed yet Professor Spengler that is the exact seat you were sitting in when you heard Eden singing for the first time at the Metropolitan Opera."

Egon nodded his head. He had figured that out.

Maestro Neeme Jarvi handed the black object to President Goldman.

"Maestro Neeme Jarvi and I would like to present you, Professor Egon Spengler, with this black granite tile engraved with the name of your unborn son. To be placed next to your wife's granite tile in the lobby."

Egon swallowed and pulled out a handkerchief from his pants pocket. Having given her his other one. He always carried two. As he wiped away the tears all he could do is nod at the President and Maestro.

"Doctor Spengler knows that you and Eden had been arguing about a couple of names before that dreadful day. She would like for you to know that she has now settled the argument between you."

The audience laughed at this bit of teasing between the two.

"She has picked out the name Edison Spengler. Your fathers name to have engraved upon this granite tile. Underneath she has chosen to inscribe Beloved Son and Beloved Brother. Professor Spengler would you please come up on the stage to accept this granite tile?"

The audience started to applaud and then one by one they rose to their feet.

Slowly Egon pulled himself up from his seat. He couldn't do this alone. He started to exit the row to his right. Being congratulated as he made his way along to the aisle. He couldn't see anymore and was feeling his way along. Tears were flowing down both sides of his face and he wondered how he was going to get up onto the stage by himself.

As he exited the row he felt his right arm being taken by someone. "Oh good." he thought. They had sent him someone to help him.

"Thank You." he said to the person in black that he couldn't see as they started up the aisle for the stage.

"Your welcome father." came the soft reply.

Egon stopped dead in his tracks. No it couldn't be? He hastily wiped away his tears with his handkerchief. It was. It was her. His daughter!

Egon pulled her to him in a fierce bear hug. He couldn't speak and neither could she. She did have the sense to break the hug and move them up the stairs and onto the stage though.

They now stood before President Goldman and Maestro Neeme Jarvi. The Maestro shook his hand first and then hugged his daughter. President Goldman turned him to face the audience and with Egon on his left and hugging Doctor Spengler on his right he handed the black granite tile to him. Egon accepted the tile and she came over to take his arm and led him off towards backstage.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Egon was struggling to keep upright at this moment in his life. President Goldman, Maestro Neeme Jarvi, and his daughter had just surprised him to death.

They were in the "Green Room" right now. This was a room right off of the stage with monitors and sound where the performers would wait before going on stage. His daughter was by his side holding onto his right arm and supporting him up. The black granite tile they had presented to him was in his hands. Looking at it he saw engraved in white letters:

Edison Spengler

Beloved Son

Beloved Brother

Egon looked up at the monitor in the room as he heard the orchestra tuning up. Looking next to his daughter he saw worry etched into her face.

"Father! You are so pale. Are you O.K.?"

"I don't think so. I don't feel so well right now."

And with that statement Egon's legs collapsed from under him. She gave a cry of surprise as her fathers full weight now fell upon her to support.

She was a tall woman, almost six feet, but her father was taller and a bit heavier than her. Egon was six feet three inches in height and a good twenty pounds heavier then she was. She wasn't going to be able to hold him up for much longer. She could feel his weight pulling her down.

"Here, let me help you." Came a voice and a pair of hands.

President Goldman came to her rescue as he put his right arm around Egon's upper body and between the two of them were able to get him over to the couch in the middle of the room.

"Thank you." she said.

"Stay with your father, Doctor Spengler, you don't really need to be playing the first half of the concert tonight. Maestro Jarvi told me so as I was leaving the stage just now."

That was true she knew. There was no solo work in the first part of the concert that she was needed for.

"But you can't." whispered Egon so softly she almost missed it. "Leave me. Go! Go play for your mother."

The first notes of "America the Beautiful" could be heard now from the monitor.

"Too late Professor Spengler." President Goldman said. "I am going to get you some orange juice and if you are not looking any better to me in fifteen minutes I am going to call the paramedics."

With that President Goldman walked off to find Egon some juice leaving the pair alone.

With very shaky hands Egon placed the granite tile lovingly on the coffee table in front of him.

"Thank you so much for doing this for me and your mother."

A smile crossed her beautiful face. "I wanted something special for her. Not just a name read once a year by someone who didn't know her."

Egon nodded his head. He totally agreed. The first year after 9/11, Peter with Dana and Oscar, Ray, Winston, Janine and Louis, his daughter and him had attended the very first ceremony at "Ground Zero". Emotions were deep and scars fresh. His daughter, just three months shy of being ten years old, was having a really hard time with it. Dana finally left twelve year old Oscar with Peter as she carried his daughter, like a baby, sobbing out of the ceremony. His daughter had been wailing through the first moment of silence when the first plane had hit the North Tower. As she had continued to cry and when no one was able to calm her down, people started to look their way and whisper comments. Dana took it upon herself to see to it that Egon could grieve in peace with the others that had also lost loved ones that day. It had hurt him to see his daughter like that and he had vowed that day never to go back. And they both hadn't.

From that day forward Egon and his daughter had grieved in their own way for Eden. Each year the pair would attend a musical concert in memory of Eden. She would have wanted it that way. She loved music so much. If his daughter was playing in the orchestra or band they would do that as a memento. He would listen as she played her heart out.

He could hear that the song had ended on the monitor and the next one was beginning. She started to hum along with the music. Such a beautiful voice just like her mothers. Why she didn't get a degree in singing he never could understand. She had told him one time that she didn't want to "out shine" her mother. Having slipped out of her high heels and placing them on the floor in front of them, she now sat with legs tucked up under her on the couch on his right hand side rubbing his back. Her eyes were closed, smile upon her face. If she wasn't playing an instrument she was singing. She couldn't hold back any longer. Now she stopped humming and started to sing in her beautiful soprano voice.

"In the beauty of the lilies, Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me."

Egon smiled and then joined in with her in a deep rich tenor voice.

"As he died to make men holy, let us live to make men free,"

Her eyes opened to look Egon in the face when she heard his voice. Smiling they sang together.

"While God is marching on."

For the chorus part Egon sang it as it was written while she sang a descant on top of his tenor voice. Flowing in and out of the dotted eight/sixteenth notes with a moving phrase. She finished with a high B flat above the octave and he dropped down to the basses B flat.

On the monitor they could hear the last cord resonating and the audience starting to applaud. Applause could be heard inside the "Green Room" too. Egon and his daughter turned their heads to see President Goldman by the door with a silver cart in front of him clapping his hands.

Now Egon was totally embarrassed.

"I didn't know you sang Professor Spengler. You should join your daughter on stage." he stated to them.

"Oh No!" replied Egon, "That's not for me. Just give me a puzzle to solve and I'm good. I enjoy listening and singing along sometimes, but I am not as good as my wife or daughter. Hands down they are the musicians in the family."

"But you did extremely well Professor Spengler." President Goldman remarked. "Surely you must have had some training with the way you were singing right now."

"I can read musical diction and Eden taught me while we were married, but my daughter was the one who really picked it up quicker than me."

"Doctor Spengler I am told that you sang before you could talk." President Goldman questioned her as he wheeled the cart in front of him over to the couch. As he handed Egon a glass of orange juice she replied.

"Yes. I was told that too. My father, Peter, Dana, and Oscar all said the same thing to me when I was growing up."

Egon had taken the drink from President Goldman and after having a few sips joined into the conversation.

"That's where she got her name from." he told President Goldman.

"Got her name from?" he questioned Egon. "You mean Eden and you hadn't named your baby when she was born?"

"No. They were arguing over a couple of names and Peter kept calling me 'Coconut'. Well me and Oscar. Dana told Eden and my father they had better pick a name out soon before 'Coconut' was going to be it." Doctor Spengler told President Goldman.

"Ah!" recognition registered upon President Goldman's face. "That's why you wanted me to tell everyone tonight that you had settled the argument between your father and mother."

"Correct! If it was up to them I don't think my brother would have had a name. I almost didn't."

Pointing the glass he was holding her way Egon stated, "But you did get a name."

"Yea, no thanks to you. Ray named me." she teased him.

Egon sipped his drink while he thought back to that day, listening to the sound of "God of Our Fathers" being played over the monitor. Egon closed his eyes. It was almost like yesterday.

They were all in the firehouse. Eden was on the top level where there was a Cable Nelson upright piano. His daughter had to be about five months old at the time. Eden had been practicing her part for an upcoming opera on the piano. She had been going over and over a certain phrase to get it correct. By the third time through, his daughter had mimicked what Eden was doing.

Eden had stopped playing and looked over at her daughter in her bouncy seat next to her feet by the piano. Did she hear right? She tried again, this time doing something simple.

"Do, Re, Mi …" she sang.

"Do, Re, Mi …" came the reply.

President Goldman speaking to his daughter roused him from his thoughts.

"Your Uncle Ray named you?' President Goldman was questioning her as he sat down in a chair across from the pair.

"Yes." she told him, "But I don't remember why."

Now Egon smiled. "Because you were a copy cat." he told her.

Applause broke out once more as the orchestra finished the song. As the next song was starting, Egon looked at President Goldman and started to explain.

"Eden would stay at the firehouse when she was in town and not on tour. We had a piano on the top floor as well as the kitchen. Eden would practice her singing parts for her upcoming opera performances there. As she was practing one day, this little one started to copy her."

"Note for note?" President Goldman asked.

"Note for note. Not on key, mind you, but not that far off either. So Ray walks in to start supper and here he finds my wife and child playing this game."

"You have got a little echo there Eden." Ray said to her.

Eden stopped playing. "Ray that's a perfect name!"

"What is?" Ray questioned as he pulled items from the fridge to start the meal.

"Echo." Eden told him.

"No way!" President Goldman stated. "Well technically speaking she named herself."

"How's that President Goldman?" Egon asked. "Ray named her. Eden told me."

"No." he replied, "If Eden hadn't been playing the game with her, your daughter wouldn't have caught Ray's attention to bring it up to Eden. She was echoing everything your wife was doing. Eden was too involved with the game to realize it. It took Ray to point it out but really 'Echo' had already decided upon her own name."

"I never thought about that before." Egon told him.

The door being opened caused them all to look up. The catering group was coming in carrying trays and pushing wheeled carts like the one that sat by the couch. They were getting ready for the orchestra with finger sandwiches and drinks.

"We are getting close to intermission." Doctor Echo Spengler told her father. "I need to go and get ready. Are you going to be O.K.? Do you need me to help you down to your seat before the concert starts again?"

Egon looked at his daughter. He was feeling better after the juice.

"No. I think I will be fine." he told her.

"Doctor Spengler, I will see your father to his seat for you." stated President Goldman. "Go get ready."

Echo planted a kiss on his right cheek before getting up.

"I love you." she told him.

Egon watched as she slipped back into her high heels and walked over to where the "Batta" sat in the case. She opened the case, carefully taking the cello out and grabbed her 'Coda Conservatory Bow' from the three that were in her case.

Nodding to him and President Goldman she left the room to tune up and get ready to go on stage soon.

Egon turned towards President Goldman.

"I need to thank you for everything you have done for me tonight." Egon told him.

"Think nothing of it. Doctor Spengler put me up to it. I remember seeing Eden before she was taken from us. She was doing "Carmen" here at NJPAC. She was a wonderful person to deal with. Thinking of others before herself. She put such passion into every performance she did. What a loss to the music world and you."

With that President Goldman got up from his seat.

"I need to go, but I'll be back five minutes before the start of the second part of the concert to help you to your seat." He told Egon.

"Samuel!"

A catering worker came over to President Goldman.

"Yes Sir."

"Please see to it that Professor Spengler gets whatever he needs." he told the man.

"I'll see to it personally Sir." And with that Samuel walked away to help set up the rest of the food trays.

"You are welcome to stay here for the intermission. I know that some of the orchestra members would love to talk to you. If you would excuse me."

Egon nodded his thanks as President Goldman exited the room.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Egon was back in his orchestra row seat now. When President Goldman had come back to escort him to his seat Egon had left his son's tile in the "Green Room". President Goldman had promised that it would be safe during the second half of the program. He had enjoyed listening to the last song "The Star-Spangled Banner" alone in the "Green Room". The catering group had finished early and Samuel, having asked him if he needed anything, had taken his leave.

Sitting deeper into the couch and laying his head back Egon closed his eyes thinking about Eden while the orchestra was playing.

He remembered a time when they were at the firehouse; just recently married; that he had gone to a baseball game with her and Winston. Eden had been asked to sing the National Anthem and he had been asked to throw out the first pitch. Winston really had wanted to throw out the first pitch as it was his favorite team that they were going to see that day. So when the baseball team had given Egon the "game ball" at the end of the game he had offered it to Winston.

Winston had been so excited to show Ray, Peter, Dana, and Oscar that he drove home and forgot about them. He and Eden were left stranded at the stadium. Eden didn't mind even though he had been a bit put out by it.

They had walked to the Subway with everyone else leaving from the game and took the train into Manhattan. Transferring at 42nd Street/Time Square they then caught the #1 train downtown. Getting off at Canal Street and Varick Street they walked the rest of the way back to the firehouse.

Applause broke out over the monitor. Egon opened his eyes smiling. Such good memories of Eden and their time together. How he missed those days.

The doors being opened behind him reminded him that he would soon hear his daughter play as intermission was now starting.

The audience was clapping now as the orchestra was filing onto the stage. Egon looked up, startled from his thoughts. There was Susan. She played the clarinet. Susan had been Echo's friend at Juilliard even though she was a year ahead of her. Susan had come over to him during intermission to talk to him.

"I am so sorry for your loss." She had told him. "I recently lost my mother in May but I was able to have closure with knowing where her body was. It must be so hard on you and Echo not knowing. She really misses her mother so much."

Egon had politely smiled at Susan and agreed.

The orchestra was now seated while a stagehand brought out a chair and placed it in the middle of the stage. Maestro Neeme Jarvi arrived next from Egon's right. He bowed to the audience and then gestured to the left hand side of the stage.

From the wings came two violins, a viola, and his daughter. The audience was on their feet and clapping harder than he had ever heard any audience clap before.

Doctor Echo Spengler bowed to the audience along with her fellow musicians and took the empty seat. At least she got to sit. The violins and viola were required to stand when they were doing solo or group work.

The lead violinist, Daniel McQuarrie, nodded to the Maestro that they were ready. Maestro Jarvi nodded his approval and raised his baton. After softly counting out the tempo to the orchestra members he gave the down beat. The orchestra and guest soloist began to play Vivaldi's "Spring". As Egon watched and listened he thought back to when Daniel had spoken to him last.

Egon had meet Daniel last year. Echo had introduced him to her father at a practice they were doing before a concert in NYC. Daniel was from Scotland, The Highlands, and had a very heavy Scottish accent. At first Egon couldn't understand him, but as they talked he found that Daniel was getting easier to understand.

"I love your country. Such big buildings. I come from rolling green hills. Echo told me to climb up to the top of The Empire State building, but I didn't go." Daniel stated to Egon.

"Why?" Egon questioned him.

"I have a fear of heights!" was his response, "I stay on the ground. Play my violin. Let the violin's sound soar and take heights."

Egon smiled to himself. That is exactly what the music was doing. Vivaldi loved to create music with brilliant effects. This piece "Spring" had simulated bird calls and dramatic contrasts of loud and soft dynamics. You could just picture springtime arriving and the birds singing songs in the trees. As the piece went along Vivaldi's attempts to describe a storm, wind and rain could be heard. This returned to the theme at the beginning of the piece of birds and sunshine.

Echo was in her element. Watching her was like watching her mother. Such energy and passion. His daughter had her eyes closed and head tilted to her right. Anyone who saw her would think that she was really in touch with the music. That wasn't far from the truth. Echo would tilt her head so that she could hear those around her better. At home when she did this with the piano accompanist she would sometimes start to hum or sing.

They were nearing the end of the song so Echo opened her eyes to follow Daniel as he carefully nodded the cut off for the group.

With no applause from the audience they went into "Autumn" next. A very different piece of music that Vivaldi had wrote. With wide leaps from one register to another you could picture a song and dance of peasants celebrating the harvest safely gathered in.

As Echo drew her bow across the cello's strings and the vibrato faded away the audience was on their feet once again. The guest soloist and Echo took a bow and then took their seats among the orchestra. As they were doing so, the same stagehand came on and removed her chair that he had placed there before.

When the audience had quieted down, Maestro Jarvi gave the down beat for the next piece. Egon listened as the orchestra played through Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 and Holst's Uranus and Jupiter. Jupiter had always been a favorite piece for Echo. Having first played it on the clarinet she welcomed the chance to play it on the "Batta".

Bach and Beethoven's Minuets went off splendidly. Now was the time for Echo to shine. The audience knew it too.

Doctor Echo Spengler rose from her seat and crossed to the raised platform by Maestro Jarvi's left. She took a white cloth that had been placed under the chair and wiped the rosin off of the strings. Echo then pulled her hair to her right side and placed it in front of her shoulder. This would keep it away from the cello's strings. Now she was ready he knew.

Maestro Jarvi indicated for her to start when she was ready. Heaving a sigh as she always did, Echo triple stopped the first cord of Breval's Sonata in C major with a forte dynamic. The next cord was spot on with her letting it resonate a little before starting the last one. The last cord was a quadruple stop. This was two double stops that were played in a "broken" fashion. Echo played the two lower notes together with an 'up' bow stroke and then immediately played the two upper notes with a 'down' bow stroke. By doing this she was able to use vibrato on the upper C, crescendo the notes, and then flourish them at the end.

Lifting her bow off the strings she looked towards Maestro Jarvi and nodded for him to give the down beat. He did so and the piece changed to a very soft dynamic.

Egon watched his daughter. She almost always closed her eyes when she started a piece that she loved. The flowing of the music was catching him and holding him speechless. The music left him wanting more, wanting to wish he could play that way too.

Breval was a French composer and cellist too. He wrote mainly pieces for his own instrument. His music reflected the Parisian love for graceful melodies and energetic rhythms. Echo was relaying that feeling now as he listened. Closing his eyes he could almost hear Eden singing along with her daughter like they used to those many years ago.

The song ended and Egon rose to his feet with the rest of the audience to clap for his daughter. Echo took a bow and then handing her cello to Daniel, she came forward to face the audience.

The audience settled back into their seats. Egon was curious why she would come forward now. There was only one song left. She had never done anything like this before.

"I want to thank you all for coming tonight." she said. "As you know, tonight is a very special night for my father and me."

Echo looked at her father now, a smile across her face.

"Eden Spengler loved music. Loved to sing and play it. She had some very special pieces that were dear to her. Camille Saint-Saens 'The Swan' was one of them."

She turned back to the audience.

" 'The Swan' comes from a musical suite of fourteen movements called The Carnival of the Animals. Saint-Saens thought that the movements were too frivolous and likely to harm his reputation as a serious composer so he suppressed performances of them, except 'The Swan', to be published in his lifetime."

"My mother felt like the swan when she began her singing career. 'The Ugly Duckling' that grew into something beautiful to fly away from us."

Egon saw a tear roll down her cheek.

"I dedicate this piece to my mother. Eden Spengler."

The audience clapped softly as Doctor Echo Spengler crossed back to take the "Batta" back from Daniel. Daniel had laid his violin down on his chair and was standing in front of the raised platform. As she approached, he hugged her with his left arm holding the "Batta" away from them with his right.

He broke the embrace and mouthed the words "Break a Leg" to her, an old theater saying of good luck, and took his seat.

Echo settled herself into her seat, wiped the rosin off of the cello strings, pulled her hair to the side once again, and then nodded to Maestro Jarvi. Pointing to Helen on the harp with his left hand and Pam on the piano with his right hand he softly counted the tempo off and gave the down beat.

Usually arranged for two pianos and a cello, the harp was a welcoming difference. The harp played the rippling sixteenths notes which represented the elegant gliding of the swan over the water while the piano played the rolled chords, representing the swans feet hidden from view beneath the water propelling it along.

This piece showcased Echo's interpretive skills as a cellist. Echo conveyed a warm and expressive movement. Egon could just see the swan gliding gracefully across the water, turning around to swim back to the other side, and then finally rising into the air and flying away.

Egon saw that his daughter had used a harmonic on the last note to signify the swan in the distance, too far away to call back. Tears were rolling down her cheeks. Oh Echo! How much she must miss her mother.

As soon as she released the bow from the strings Daniel was by her side. While the audience was clapping and slowly rising to their feet Maestro Jarvi took the "Batta" from her and Daniel hugged her close. He led her towards the front of the stage so she could take her bows. Handing her a tissue Daniel beckoned for Egon to join them.

Echo took some more bows and graciously accepted the bouquet of flowers that was brought to her while Daniel hung onto her arm and Egon worked his way to the aisle. Having made it there he was met by President Goldman who showed him up onto the stage. Daniel presented his daughter to him and tenderly taking Echo into his arms Egon stroked the back of her head while she cried into his shoulder. He had held Eden this way whenever she had been upset over something in her life.

"I love you Echo." he told her softly. "Your mother would have been so proud."

She pulled back to look into his light brown eyes. A single tear fell from Egon's eye. She reached up and wiped it away as she mouthed "Thank You."

Turning to face the audience she bowed one last time and Egon, following Daniel, led his daughter off of the stage. Egon swore he heard Eden next to him once again.

"Well done daughter. Well done."

He turned to look and saw no one was by his side but his beautiful daughter who had played her heart out for her mother and him.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Having composed herself in the "Green Room", Doctor Echo Spengler and Professor Egon Spengler were now talking to her fellow musicians.

"Wonderful job Doctor Spengler."

"It brought tears to my eyes listening."

"The music really flows from you."

Susan had come over to give her a big hug before she packed up and left for the night.

Maestro Neeme Jarvi, after having put the "Batta" back into the hard plastic case for her, came over and shook Egon's hand once more.

"What a beautiful daughter you have Professor. I am so glad to get to work with her. She is so much like her mother. Professionalism to a "T"! Such a wonder to watch." he said to Egon.

Maestro Jarvi hugged Echo and gave her a kiss on each cheek before leaving for the night. Slowly the other musicians left leaving only President Goldman and Daniel in the room with them.

"Professor Spengler. Doctor Spengler." President Goldman said. "There is one more thing I would like to do tonight before you leave. If you could both just follow me please."

Now it was Echo's turn to wonder what was going on. This wasn't part of any plan that she had discussed with President Goldman.

Doctor Echo Spengler, carrying the "Batta" in one hand and the bouquet of flowers in the other, followed President Goldman out the door. Behind her came her father, carrying the tile they had presented to him and bringing up the rear was Daniel carrying his violin.

They went behind the stage and down the side hallway. Eventually they came to doors that lead to the front lobby. Opening the doors they went out into the lobby.

Several audience members and fellow musicians were still there. A couple of workmen were also there with a bucket, trowel, blanket, and rags.

As Echo got closer to where her mothers name was she could see that the black slab that had been there before the concert had started was gone. Stopping she looked to her father. He was smiling at her.

"Now it's your turn to be surprised." Egon teased her. "I talked to President Goldman when he was taking me back to my seat after intermission and we came up with this plan."

"Doctor Spengler." President Goldman said. "Tonight we will lay your brother's name next to your mothers."

President Goldman took her bouquet of flowers from her while Egon took her by the hand and led her up to the empty spot.

While they had been talking, the workmen had been filling in the empty spot with thin set mortar. When Egon and Echo walked forward the workmen laid the blanket down before them and got out of the way.

Daniel took the "Batta" from her and Egon helped her to her knees. As he knelt down beside her right side he offered the tile to her. She took a hold of the left hand side of the tile and they gently placed it into the wet mortar. Pushing down firmly to make sure the tile was securely in place they were finished.

Egon looked into his daughters face and helped her get to her feet again. Behind her she could hear Daniel playing his violin. "What was he doing?" she thought. As she turned away to watch Daniel she heard her father start to sing in his tenor voice.

"_On Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling."_

Now she was at a loss. Turning back she watched her father now. He continued.

"_From glen to glen, and down the mountain side."_

This was a very special song for Egon.

"_The summer's gone, and all the roses falling"_

Eden had sung this song for Egon and her the night before she died.

"'_Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide."_

As Egon held his daughter's hands in his, Doctor Echo Spengler closed her eyes, listening to him singing to her, thinking back to that day before 9/11.

"Eden why do you have to leave so early tomorrow?" Egon questioned. "Can't you get them to change the schedule?"

"Egon darling, I'm sorry, I can't." she replied. "CBS needs to talk to me so that there are no surprises tomorrow night."

"What about Echo? I have to teach at the University in the morning."

"I called Dana last night. She isn't that far from The World Trade Center and she is happy to watch Echo while I am busy. Oscar's been asking for Echo to come over for a while now anyways."

"That works for me. If you are going to run late please call me and I'll go pick up Echo. My lunch break is at noon."

Echo had been listening to this conversation between her parents sitting at the kitchen table playing with a molecule set that Ray had given her. As she was finishing putting two hydrogen molecules onto a single oxygen molecule, she questioned her mother.

"Are you singing tomorrow mother?"

"Yes little one." Eden told her.

"Your mother is going to be singing the song 'Danny Boy' on the television." Egon stated.

"Can I watch her please?" Echo asked.

"Sure. We have to go into the city tomorrow anyways, so in the evening you and I will stop by the firehouse while your mother is at the 'Met', Deal?" Egon asked Echo.

"I wish we had a television at the house here." Echo said pouting and tossing her newly constructed water molecule onto the kitchen counter.

"I'm not! If you watched television you wouldn't be making this carbon molecule," said Egon picking up another model that she had made earlier.

"Would you like a private concert right now sweetheart?" Eden asked her daughter.

Echo's eyes lit up. "Oh yes mother! That would be grand!"

Egon and Eden helped her clean up her models and placed them back in the box. Leaving them on the kitchen table they headed down into the basement.

Echo went down the stairs two at a time and opened the door to her father's workplace. Egon came behind her and turned on the lights. Eden settled herself on the piano bench and started to warm up with some arpeggios. Egon pulled his wheeled chair from his workbench over to sit facing his wife. Echo sat down on the piano bench with her mother and sang along with her arpeggios.

When Eden was warmed up she began the song. Echo got up off the bench during the first part of the song and went over to her father. Egon picked her up and put her in his lap. She was big for a nine year old but he cherished the moments when she wanted to sit on his lap. As Echo cuddled up into her father's embrace, laying her head on his shoulder, she listened to her mother sing to her.

"_But come ye back when summer's in the meadow_

_Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow"_

Eden slowed down the tempo on the next part.

"'_Tis I'll be there in sunshine or in shadow"_

Holding out "there" and "sunshine" Eden went back into tempo at the end.

"_Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so."_

This was the last time Echo heard her mother sing to her before she was gone.

Echo felt the tears start to come again. As one slid down her cheek she felt someone wipe it away. She opened her eyes to see her father smiling before her. Egon went into the second verse.

"_And when you come, and all the flowers are dying._

_If I am dead, as dead I well maybe._

_You'll come and find the place where I am lying_

_And kneel and say an 'Ave' there for me."_

Echo listened and as she listened she thought she heard her mother singing. As if she was standing next to her right now.

"_And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me_

_And all my grave will warmer, sweeter be"_

Echo glanced to her left but no one was there. Looking back to Egon who was singing the last part she cocked her head to the side puzzled. Her father looked puzzled too, but finished the song.

"_For you will bend and tell me that you love me_

_And I shall rest in peace until you come to me."_

As Egon finished the song the audience clapped for him. Echo could see his cheeks start to turn red from embarrassment.

Echo hugged Egon to her and whispered in his ear. "I swore I heard mother right now."

"I know." he replied. "I've heard her tonight too."

Egon broke the embrace from her. The audience and left over musicians filed out the doors for the evening. The workmen cleaned up their stuff and left. President Goldman handed her back her bouquet of flowers. He let them know that the tile would be grouted tomorrow when the mortar had hardened. Shaking Egon's hand and hugging Echo he turned back towards the theater. He would be the last one out the door Echo knew. President Goldman saw to it that the theater was in order before he left for the evening.

Daniel, having packed up his violin, came over to them.

"Thank you Professor Spengler for asking me to play for you."

"Think nothing of it. Thanks for helping." Egon said to Daniel.

"I would do anything for your daughter."

Daniel shook hands with Egon. "Professor."

He then kissed Echo on her cheek. "Echo."

As he walked towards the front doors he turned around to wave to them both. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight Daniel." Egon and Echo replied.

Daniel turned around, opened the door, and was gone.

Egon was left standing with his daughter in the now empty lobby.

"Such a beautiful night you have given to me." he told her.

"I just hope mother is proud."

"But she is Echo. I heard her here at the concert tonight. As I was helping you off the stage at the end I could hear her speaking to me."

As Echo looked at her father the color drained from her face. "What did she say?"

"Well done daughter. Well done."

Echo could feel herself starting to waver. Egon seeing this was immediately by her side supporting her up as she had done for him.

"I swore mother was singing when you were." Echo whispered to him.

"Yes. I heard her too."

Egon looked into his daughter's green eyes. So much like her mother when they had first met. She had grown up into a beautiful woman.

Egon's pants vibrating brought him out of his thoughts. His cell phone was ringing. As he pulled the phone from his pocket he frowned. It was nearly eleven thirty at night. Who would be calling this late.

Opening the phone he placed it to his ear. "Hello. This is Professor Spengler speaking."

Echo shook her head. She always wondered how he could survive in a world of new electronics. Cell phones, I-pads, and lap tops were things she had grown up with. Not her father. When he had started working with Peter, Ray and Winston he had carried the company pager. How far they had come now.

"Professor it's Kylie we need your help."

Kylie Griffin was part of the new team of "Ghostbusters" in the city. Egon knew that he, along with Ray, Winston, and Peter were getting on in years. It was harder for them to physically do the job anymore. So in 2007 they had handed the reins over to the new team.

"What's wrong Kylie?" Egon asked her.

"I wouldn't have called you at all but we can't get a hold of Doctor Peter Venkman." her voice over the phone sounded urgent.

Echo heard her father say Kylie's name and she knew it was trouble. She grabbed the "Batta" and with her other hand, the one with the flowers in them, took Egon's elbow and hurried him towards the lobby doors.

"Place her on speaker father." she said as they exited the building.

"Kylie I'm putting you on speaker, hold on." Egon said as he and Echo took the steps down to the parking lot.

"Professor it's Eduardo. Me and the boys went out to Central Park. The police called us an hour ago. They had numerous calls about some bright flashing and moving lights."

"What happened?" Echo asked.

She placed the flowers under her chin, much like the party game of 'pass the apple', and she started to dig her hand into Egon's jacket pocket for the keys to the car.

"Oh Doctor Spengler, it's horrible. The others came back but Eduardo…" she broke off crying.

"Kylie are you at the firehouse?" Egon asked as he picked up the pace to the car.

Echo had found the keys, dug them out, dropped the flowers back into her hand, and was now jogging ahead of him to the car with the "Batta".

"Yes. The boys are here too, but we are worried about Eduardo." Kylie managed to get out.

"Doctor Spengler and I are on our way. We will be there in about twenty minutes. Sit tight, everything will turn out fine."

"O.K. Professor. Thank you."

Egon closed the phone and dropped it into his pants pocket again. His daughter was already at the car and was putting the "Batta" in the back seat. As he started to jog the last couple of feet he thought back to the days when Peter, Ray, Winston, and he had done this type of work everyday. A smile crossed his face as he reached the car, opened the door, and got in. No sooner had Egon closed the door then Echo had the car in gear and was hurrying towards McCarter Highway 21 only a few blocks away from NJPAC.

Egon quickly fastened his seatbelt. He shook his head at Echo. He never should have let her Uncle Ray teach her how to drive. Egon had been so relieved when they had hired Winston and he had taken over driving Ecto-1. At least Egon wasn't going to die in a car wreck with Winston at the wheel.

Echo turned the car onto US 1 & 9/Pulaski Skyway. Soon they were passing signs for the Holland Tunnel. Once they got into the tunnel the firehouse was only a couple of blocks down from the exit. At this time of night there was not a lot of traffic. It would all be uptown in the theater district as the shows were getting out. Lucky for them.

"You can slow down Echo. It's not a race." Egon said as he held onto the door frame for dear life.

"Sorry." she said as she let up on the gas. "It's just that I feel something bad has happened to Eduardo, and Kylie loves him so much."

"That is true." Egon stated. "They finally got done tip-toeing around their feelings for each other."

"About time too." Echo agreed.

As they passed the tolls and entered the tunnel, Professor Spengler felt a chill come upon him. He must be starting to catch a cold. As he glanced over to his daughter he saw horror written on her face.

"Did you just feel a chill?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Something is wrong." they said together.

Echo gave the car more gas. Soon they were exiting the tunnel and making their way down the streets in Manhattan towards the firehouse where all this "ghost" business had started many years ago.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Echo parked the car on the left hand side of Varick Street just past North Moore Street. Egon climbed out of the passenger side still visibly shaken from her driving and hung onto the door frame.

"Maybe I should drive us home." he suggested as she got out, closed her door, and reached to open the back door of the car.

"Very funny." she said. "Here catch Professor."

As she tossed the bouquet of flowers to him Echo opened the back door and retrieved the "Batta" from the seat.

"You're just sore that you didn't teach me how to drive." she told him as she shut the door.

"Yea right. You know I don't know how to drive." Egon said pointing the flowers at her and closing his door.

"But you built your first combustion engine at six," she teased him as she came around the front of the car to offer Egon her arm.

"You are never going to let me live that down are you?" Egon questioned her as he took Echo's arm and they walked back towards North Moore Street and around the corner to the front doors of the firehouse.

"No." Echo said, "But I will teach you how to drive after we get done with this job."

"Oh no thank you." Egon said as they stopped outside the doors. "I'll get Winston to do it when he comes into town next time. 'Uncle Ray's Driving School' is not for me."

"O.K." she smiled and pulled open the door.

They walked through the door with Egon closing it behind them. Ecto-2, which was sitting in front of them, was a mess. Ectoplasm residue was dripping down both sides from the windows. It covered all the doors and was starting to collect on the floor of the garage. "Oh this isn't good," Egon thought.

Echo was all business now. "Kylie!" she called to the empty room.

Footsteps were heard on the floor above them and then on the stairs. Roland Jackson came down the stairs two at a time. As he did so he called back over his shoulder. "Garrett The Spengler's are here!"

"Everyone upstairs?" Echo asked as Roland stopped in front of her and Egon.

"No Doctor Spengler. We are missing…."

"Eduardo." Echo and Roland said together.

Echo sighed and rolled her eyes. Roland could be so literal at times. Egon picked up the conversation as he could see his daughter getting upset with Roland.

"Why don't you fill us in as we go upstairs to see the others." Egon said as he turned Roland around with his free hand and taking his arm guided Roland back towards the stairs he had just come down from.

"The police called us to help them with some strange flashing lights in Central Park," Roland said as he climbed the stairs to the second floor, Egon by his side. "When we got there we fanned out to try and find any readings or sightings. We kept in radio contact like you taught us Professor and when Eduardo didn't respond after three attempts we zeroed in on his last whereabouts."

They reached the second floor and Roland and Egon moved towards the sleeping quarters.

"I'm going to put the "Batta" up and then join you." Echo called to them. "You can fill me in later."

"Glad to." Roland said as he and her father disappeared into the sleeping quarters.

Echo took the last flight of stairs to the kitchen and living room area. Reaching the top she turned on the lights. The place definitely was different now. The pool table was still there but the new team had added their own touches. A big flat screen television set hung on the wall with love seats placed before it. A weight station was near by and a 'Game Box' connected to another smaller television next to it. Where once before had been empty Chinese take out boxes were now empty pizza boxes on the end tables.

Echo walked past the pool table. Letting her free left hand run along the green velvet covering she remembered when Uncle Ray had taught her how to play using Geometry. Her father had been pretty mad at first thinking that she was wasting her time not studying when Eden pointed out to him what Ray was really doing. Ray had explained to Egon that he was also teaching Echo Hooke's Law (describes the motion of a spring with the equation F=-kx) and Newton's Second Law. Egon had calmed down and then apologized to Ray.

Echo reached the end of the pool table and stopped. How she missed her mother. As the days got closer to 9/11 she got more worried about it. She could only talk to Uncle Peter about it too. Echo heaved a sigh and continued on to the upright piano at the end of the room. She sat the hard plastic cello case upright next to the piano. This was the same piano that her mother had played when she received her name. Her mother had taught Echo the alphabet song on this piano when she was small as well.

"I miss you so much." Echo said aloud to the empty room.

"I know sweetheart." came Eden's reply.

Echo whirled around to find no one behind her. A little spooked upon hearing her mother's voice so clearly she crossed the room, turned out the lights, and hurried back down the stairs to the second floor.

Roland, Egon, Kylie, and Garrett were in the sleeping quarters. Garrett, sitting in his wheelchair, was holding a white mesh dressing on his leg. Egon was sitting in a chair he had pulled over next to Garrett trying to see how badly he was hurt. Her flowers lay on Garrett's empty bed. Kylie was sitting cross legged on Eduardo's bed hugging his pillow up against her chest. Roland was pacing, like a tiger, up and down the aisle between the four beds. Two on either side of the room.

"It's no one's fault." Roland said.

"It's my fault. I was suppose to be backing Eduardo up. That's my job." said Kylie now starting to rock herself back and forth.

Egon looked up from Garrett's wound and said in a loud voice. "Kylie!" That brought her to a stop. "You need to listen to Roland. If he said that there was no one to blame you have to believe that."

Kylie looked Egon in the face, opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again with a look from him.

"Kylie," Echo said gently as she entered the room and crossed to her father and Garrett. "We are here to help you guys, we are not here to play the blame game."

Echo nodded to her father to remove the dressing from Garrett's wound. As he did so blood started to leak out. Echo grabbed a hold of the cut ends of the material and pulled. The material ripped under her touch. She needed to see what was going on. Echo saw a deep cut. She knew it was going to need stitches now. Echo placed her hand over Egon's and applied pressure too.

"Do you want to fill me in Roland, while I stitch up Garrett's leg wound." Echo said, kneeling down in front of Garrett's wheelchair.

Egon released his hold on the dressing and got up from the chair. He knew what his daughter needed. Walking out the door he crossed the hallway to his old lab. Opening the door and turning on the lights he went inside.

In the one corner was a double bed and on the other side was his lab bench and experiments all silent and dusty from long neglect. Egon really needed to clean up his lab when he got some spare time. He crossed to the bed and knelt down to pull a white plastic box from underneath. Oh Eden. So many good memories from when they were first married hung in this room. Egon now remembered why he never came back to clean his lab. He blamed himself for Eden's death.

"I'm so sorry." he said aloud.

"Egon darling, you need to listen to your own advice." Eden said.

Egon stood up and looked around. Like before, at the house, the room was empty. Egon hurried back across the room, turned out the lights, and shut the door.

As he was walking back across the hall he could hear Garrett arguing with his daughter.

"No shots! I hate needles!" Garrett was shouting.

"Fine then. But I'm not letting you bleed all over the floor." Echo told him.

Egon handed Echo the plastic box and took over holding the dressing on Garrett's leg. Opening the lid and setting it aside Echo pulled out two bottles, a needle, and a syringe.

"No needles!" Garrett shouted at her, getting more and more worked up.

"Roland! Help me please." Echo said.

Roland came to stand behind Garrett to try and calm him down.

"Kylie." Echo said looking her in the face. "Please go get me a lab coat from the closet. The sooner I get done here the sooner I can help you look for Eduardo."

Kylie slowly got up from Eduardo's bed and crossed to the closet. She never let go of Eduardo's pillow Echo could see. Kylie opened the closet door, retrieved a white lab coat, and brought it back to her.

"Here you go Doctor Spengler." Kylie said as she sat back down on Eduardo's bed.

"Thanks" Echo said as she stood up and pulled it on over her black dress.

Garrett was now visibly upset and shaking, even with Roland trying to calm him down. Garrett kept trying to bat Egon's hand away from his leg as he screamed again, "NO NEEDLES!"

Raising her voice Echo hollered "GARRETT!"

Garrett stopped everything he was doing.

"Can you feel this?" Echo said in her normal voice as she tapped her hand very hard on Garrett's uninjured leg.

"No." Garrett answered calming down a little bit.

"That's because you are paralyzed from your waist down. You are not going to feel the needle or the sutures. Just calm down."

Garrett breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sorry Doctor Spengler. I forget that I am handicapped." he told her.

Putting the needle onto the syringe Echo picked up the bottle of lidocaine and while Garrett was talking to her uncapped the needle and placed it into the bottle. As she drew out the drug from the bottle she replied.

"It is because you don't see yourself as handicapped." she indicated to Garrett with a nod from her head.

Placing the lidocaine down she picked up the other bottle of sodium bicarbonate.

"I was never taught to see myself that way." Garrett told her. "My parents saw me as a child that could do everything that all the other children were doing. Just a little differently.

As Garrett had been speaking to her, Echo had been drawing out the amount of drug that she wanted. Placing the cap back onto the needle of the syringe she put the bottle down next to the lidocaine.

"I never knew that." Roland said.

"I never told anyone." Garrett replied.

"So." Interrupted Doctor Spengler, "Garrett let's pick up from where we left off with Roland. Tell me what happened after Eduardo didn't answer and you all went looking for him."

Echo could see Garrett relaxing even more in his wheelchair. Egon looked at his daughter and nodded his approval. Get Garrett talking to forget about his leg. Good choice.

"Well, let's see," Garrett began. "When we couldn't get Eduardo to answer, we all converged on his last known radio signal to us."

As Garrett started to talk Echo knelt down again and was pulling on a pair of sterile surgical gloves.

"Where was that?" Echo asked Garrett.

"Eduardo last radioed that he was over by Harlem Meer, so we met there." continued Garrett. "That's when all hell broke loose."

Roland placed a hand on Garrett's shoulder as Garrett took a deep breath.

"The lights that we had been called out for were there in the water when we arrived at Harlem Meer."

"Yes go on." said Echo as she took the syringe, nodded for Egon to remove the dressing, and then injected the drug just under the dermis around the cut parts of the open wound. This would numb the area for her so that she could stitch the edges back together. Echo knew that Garrett would probably not feel it if she just put the stitches in without the lidocaine/sodium bicarb mixture, but it gave her 'peace of mind' to know that if Garrett did feel something the area was numb to the touch.

"Eduardo was nowhere to be found, but the PKE meter read Class 2 spectrums in the water." Garrett told her, not even knowing that Echo was now cutting the edges of the dead tissue off with a curved iris scissor. She then started placing simple interrupted sutures in his leg.

"I told Kylie to get the trap ready while Roland and I gave them a blast with the proton packs."

"It didn't work out the way we had thought." Kylie said softly.

"They never do." Egon stated to them. "Did you remember to have a backup plan like I taught you?"

"Yes." Roland told Egon. "Only the backup plan involved the 'spooks' taking us all for a friendly Friday Night 'fly away' into the trees."

"Is that how you hurt your leg Garrett?" Echo asked him, cutting the last suture she had placed in his leg with her general purpose scissors.

"Yes, don't remind me. I was the only one lucky enough to land in a pile of tree branches. Broke my fall really nice too." Garrett said sarcastically.

"So since Garrett was hurt we got him back here and called you Professor." Roland finished.

"All right you're done." Echo said to Garrett as she pulled off the gloves and put the supplies back into the box. Putting the lid back on the box, she stood up.

"What happened to Ecto-2?" Egon asked. "It's a royal mess."

"Yea." Roland replied. "Guess the Class 2's decided that when they were done with us they were going to take it out on old Ecto. I'll get her cleaned up when this is over.

"I am going to go and get changed." Echo told the group. "Kylie and Roland, you are coming with me. Get geared up. Garrett, you and Professor Spengler stay here. I don't want you to re-open that wound and if you just happen to pass out, I need someone to call the paramedics for you. So Professor Spengler, tag you're it."

"I don't like this plan." Garrett grumbled as Echo walked out of the room.

Echo crossed the hall to her fathers lab. Opening the door and turning on the lights she set the plastic box down onto the lab bench. She would put it away later replacing the items she had used. She then reached into the locker next to the bench and pulled out a tan jumpsuit. Quickly she undressed and put on the jumpsuit. Laying her black gown on the bed and leaving her high heels on the floor in front of the bed, she turned out the lights and shut the door.

Echo looked into the sleeping quarters, seeing that the team was not there and the stair elevator was gone, she crossed to the fire pole in her bare feet. Sliding down the pole had always been her favorite thing to do when she had lived here as a child. Uncle Ray's too. She now found that childhood pleasure again as she grabbed the pole and made the journey to the garage.

The team was there.

"Nice touch Doctor Spengler." Egon teased her as he arranged her flowers in a vase with some water on Janine's desk. "Going to bust some ghosts with no shoes. Must be the new winter look."

"Oh hardy-ha-ha." Echo retorted.

Echo could see that Roland and Kylie were placing their gear into Ecto-2. She crossed over to Egon's old locker and opened it. She grabbed some bands for her hair and placed them on her right wrist. Next she pulled out a pair of long black socks and combat boots.

"Garrett I'm going to need my 'med' kit, seeing how these buggers like to play the lets throw people around game. I may need to do some more suturing in the field." Echo said.

"I have already thought of that, Doctor Spengler." Garrett told her. "Roland has placed your bag in Ecto-2, as well as flashlights, ghost traps, and your old proton pack."

"Great!" Echo replied as she finished zipping up her boots and closed the locker. She crossed over to Janine's deck placing her long hair into a pony tail and then placing another band about five inches down from the first to form a double ponytail.

"Hold the fort down Professor Spengler." Echo said to her father.

"Aye-Aye. Doctor Spengler." Garret replied, saluting her.

Egon walked his daughter over to Ecto-2. Roland was already in the driver's seat with the engine running. Kylie, riding shotgun, was using the garage door opener to open the firehouse's doors. Egon opened the back door of Ecto-2 for his daughter.

"I love you." he said as he kissed her and Echo kissed him back. "Stay safe."

"I'll try." Echo said as she climbed into the back seat and Egon shut the door.

Roland put Ecto-2 in gear, backed out of the garage and was gone.

As Egon stood there and watched the doors closing to the firehouse he felt as though the doors were closing on his life with his daughter. Something didn't feel right to him. Egon shrugged it off and turned around to walk back to Janine's deck. While he was here Garrett and he could get some leftover paperwork done. That would take his mind off of waiting for the team to call. Egon sat down at the desk, Garrett rolled in front of him and together they started to tackle last month's papers.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Roland, Kylie, and Echo reached Central Park and had parked Ecto-2 along 5th Avenue as close to Harlem Meer as they could get. Central Park designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux had named this man-made water body "the Meer" which was Dutch for "small sea". It was a nod to the 17th century European settlers who first inhabited the village of Harlem. Today, families come to the area for catch-and-release fishing, skating and swimming at Lasker Rink and Pool. Harlem Meer is a thriving wildlife habitat and home to fish, turtles, muskrats, and waterfowl. Several varieties of trees, including oak, bald cypress, beech, black locust, and ginkgo surround it. Two gun emplacements, that had been intended for use during the War of 1812, were also nearby.

After suiting up, they were fanning out around the water for signs of Eduardo. Roland and Kylie had their newer versions of the proton packs on, while Echo had the version that her father had used when he had first started the business with Peter and Ray. Echo had grown up with this pack and knew it inside and out. She trusted it over the ones the new team wore. Not that the new team's packs were bad, it was just that she was not used to them. Egon had made the newer packs while she was at Juilliard and thus had never gotten to practice with them. That was fine by her as the proton pack she wore was just as capable of doing the job.

Echo stopped. She had been looking down just now and saw footprints in the wet grass. They could be anyone's but as she followed them with her flashlight she saw something black lying in the grass a few feet away. Echo hurried over to it and saw that it was a PKE meter. She took her radio off of her belt and keyed it on.

"Kylie. Roland. I found a PKE meter on the west side of Harlem Meer. Did Eduardo have one on him tonight?"

"Yes." came Kylie's static reply. "We'll met you there."

Keying the radio off and putting it back on her belt Echo reached down to pick up the PKE meter. She now saw it start to light up. There was definitely activity going on. As she placed her right hand on the handle she could feel herself being pulled forward, towards the trees, by an unseen entity. Echo tried to dig her heels into the wet grass and slow her forward momentum but was unsuccessful. As she reached the tree line Echo tried to grab her radio to let the others know what was happening when she felt herself falling down. She landed on something soft.

"Oomph." it said.

Echo untangled herself from whatever she had fallen on and searched around in the darkness with her hands to find her flashlight that she had lost.

"Sorry." she said to the figure she couldn't see.

"Doctor Spengler is that you?" came a voice she knew.

"Eduardo?' she asked.

"Yea it's me." he replied.

Echo gave up on finding her flashlight an reached back and turned on her proton pack. The soft glow from its lights helped her to see what she needed.

There was Eduardo. Alive but in no means able to get up by himself. He was lying on his proton pack, on his back. His left arm looking bruised with blood coming from his face. He was moaning in pain.

"Fell down the rabbit hole did ya?"

"Pulled down actually. I can't move my left arm Doctor Spengler and I can't find my radio to call the team.

"I know the feeling. He got me too. Thanks for breaking my fall by the way."

"Oh, think nothing of it."

Echo took her radio from her belt and keyed it on.

"Kylie. Roland. I found Eduardo. Repeat. I have found Eduardo. Call the paramedics and be on the look out for a demonic entity. He just took me for a ride down a rabbit hole."

"Is Eduardo O.K.?" Kylie's voice came over.

Echo looked to Eduardo and raised her eyebrows at him.

"Should I tell her?" she asked.

"Give me that damn thing." Eduardo said holding out his right hand to Echo.

Echo walked over to Eduardo, handed him the radio, and then pulled out her knife from her inside left calf pocket. As Eduardo was talking to Kylie she cut the straps to his proton pack and removed them from his right shoulder. As she cut the left one and was trying to remove it Eduardo screamed in pain.

"Eduardo?" Kylie said with worry in her voice.

Echo took the radio back from Eduardo.

"Kylie I have to take care of Eduardo. Make the call to the paramedics please." Echo said as she keyed off the radio and placed it back on her belt.

As Echo put her knife back into her calf pocket she could see that Eduardo's arm was separated from the socket. She would have to perform a manual relocation but she was going to have to get the proton pack out from under him first.

"Think you could sit up." she asked him.

"All I can do is try."

Echo took Eduardo's right hand with her right hand and placed her left hand on his proton pack.

"On the count of three, Deal?"

Eduardo nodded his head and held his breath.

"One. Two. Three."

As Echo said three she lifted Eduardo with her right hand while she slid the proton pack out from under him with her left hand. Eduardo screamed in pain and then fell limp onto the ground. He had passed out from the pain.

"Better for you you're not awake when I put your shoulder back in." Echo told the sleeping man.

Echo sat on the ground next to Eduardo's left side. Taking her left boot off she took Eduardo's left arm in both her hands and placed her stocking foot into his armpit. Bracing herself Echo bent the elbow at a 90 degree angle. She then rotated Eduardo's arm and shoulder inward, towards his chest making a letter "L". Slowly, but steadily she rotated the arm and shoulder outwards. When Eduardo's lower arm was just past the 90 degree mark to his chest the shoulder 'popped' back into the joint. Gently taking her foot away she rotated his arm back towards his chest and laid it down. Just then light flooded down upon her and Eduardo.

"Doctor Spengler?" Roland's voice could be heard from above.

"Thanks for the light. Hold it there while I splint Eduardo's arm."

Echo took the strap of her 'med' kit up and over her head and sat it on the ground next to her. She unzipped it and produced a triangular piece of material. Folding it in half and placing it gently under Eduardo's arm she knotted the ends together over his right shoulder.

"Kylie over here." Roland called above her.

Echo heard Kylie's voice a moment later. "Eduardo?"

"He's out cold." Echo called up to her replacing her boot. "Are the paramedics on the way?"

"Yes." Kylie replied.

"Kylie." Roland said. "Go back to Ecto-2 and wait for the paramedics there. That way when they come you can lead them here. Also give Professor Spengler and Garrett a call and fill them in on our progress."

When Kylie had left Roland called down to Doctor Spengler, "Anything I can do for you?"

"Got a ladder?" she teased him.

"Sorry. Fresh out."

Eduardo moaned. He was coming around. Echo knelt down beside him and took his right hand in hers checking his pulse.

"What.. What happened?" he grumbled.

"Sorry about that Eduardo." Echo told him. "The pain from your dislocated shoulder sent your brain into shutdown mode, but look on the bright side, while you were out I set your shoulder so they don't have to do that at the hospital."

"Thanks, I think."

"Anything else bothering you?" Echo asked as she checked Eduardo out.

"Just my pride."

Echo frowned. "Why is that?"

"Sorry Doctor Spengler." Eduardo said trying to sit up. "It's just that I can't find the nerve to ask Kylie to marry me."

As Echo helped Eduardo to sit upright she thought about this. What did she know about boyfriends. She didn't have one. Sure she had friends that were male in gender but not like Eduardo and Kylie who were in love with each other.

"Why do you think you can't ask her?" Echo said as she finally got Eduardo upright.

"I am afraid Kylie would think I'm not good enough for her," he sighed. "I guess what I really think is that I'm not good enough for her. Hell, Kylie probably didn't even care that I fell down this here 'rabbit hole' as you put it."

"That's where you are wrong Eduardo." Echo said as she dug into her 'med' kit for some gauze. Placing it above Eduardo's right eye, where he had a laceration, she continued.

"You should have seen her at the firehouse. Kylie blamed herself for your disappearance. She kept repeating that it was her fault."

"Really? You're not pulling my leg are you Doctor Spengler?" Eduardo questioned her as he took over holding the gauze above his eye.

As Echo dug for tape in her 'med' kit she answered him.

"No. Kylie was genereally concerned for your well being. She called Professor Spengler and me to come and help her find you. When you get out of here you two should sit down and talk. You both love each other and want to be with each other. You have a lot in common and like the same things." Echo finished taping the gauze in place and dropped the role of tape back into her kit.

Eduardo lowered his hand and looked Echo in the face.

"I guess I owe Kylie that much." he said. "I'll talk to her if we ever get out of this place."

"Oh ye of little faith. Now, Me or the EMT's?" she asked. Echo had dug a catheter out of her 'med' kit and was waving it in Eduardo's face.

"Do I need one? I feel fine except for the shoulder."

"Sorry. Everyone who walks through the doors of Mount Sinai Hospital gets one. I'll give you ten dollars if you let me do it though."

"Why?"

"Because it's after midnight on Saturday morning and Sal is on call."

"So?"

"Well how should I put this… Sal's a good man but can only put catheter's in someone's left arm. So I see a slight problem with that do you?"

"Yea, slight problem. O.K., will you just do it already."

Echo took Eduardo's right arm and tied a plastic rubber tourniquet around his bicep then with her bandage scissors she cut the ripstop material of Eduardo's blue jumpsuit up the center from the cuff to where her tourniquet was. As she swabbed the site, using expanding circular motions, with chlorhexidine she asked Eduardo to make a fist.

"Gladly. I'd love to get that demonic entity who dropped me down this here hole."

"Please tell me about it." Echo said.

Echo often played this trick on people. Take their minds off of what she was doing. She found it worked great.

"I was working my way around Harlem Meer. My PKE meter had picked up some Class 2's in the water but then they were gone just as quickly. I was trying to see where they went when something grabbed my left arm, pulling me across the grass and into the tree line. I tried to get away and grab my radio at the same time. Next thing I knew I felt that I was falling. I must have passed out because the only thing I remember after that was you landing on me."

As Eduardo had been talking Echo had visualized the vein. Stabilizing the vein and applying countertension to the skin Echo had inserted the stylet through the skin and observed for "flash back" as the blood slowly filled the chamber. Echo then slowly advanced the catheter into the vein and pulled out the stylet. She then removed the tourniquet and secured the end of the catheter with a cap. Echo then secured the catheter in place by placing tape over the lower half of the catheter hub taking care not to cover the tubing connection. As Echo finished taping the catheter in place they both heard sirens getting louder overhead.

"Calvary's here!" Roland called down from above.

"I hope they brought pizza. I'm starved." Eduardo called up to Roland.

Echo shook her head at Eduardo. The new team was just as much like her and her father. Caring for what happens to each other and able to laugh about the situation they were placed into.

Kylie's voice could now be heard.

"Doctor Spengler. Eduardo. The EMT's and paramedics are here."

"Thanks Kylie" Eduardo called to her.

"Eduardo are you O.K.? I've been so worried."

"I'm going to be fine thanks to Doctor Spengler here honey. Just give me a minute or two to get topside."

"Deal. Then I'm going to hug and kiss you." Kylie called to Eduardo.

"No hugging Kylie." Echo called up. "At least not for six weeks." she winked at Eduardo.

"Thanks." Eduardo silently mouthed to her.

Now a new voice came down to them.

"Doctor Spengler?" it said a little startled at first. "Are you the one that's hurt?"

"Sal! No it's Eduardo Rivera. A member of the 'Ghostbusters' team. Dislocated shoulder, which I set while he was out; laceration above right eye, will need some stitches; pulses are good; and a catheter placed. I need a harness to get him up top."

"Coming your way. Here catch."

Sal tossed his flashlight down to her. This was a police type that was nonbreakable and very bright. As she watched the light as it fell, so did her heart. Roland's light from above wasn't very bright. She figured they had fallen at least one story down. When Sal's light hit the ground and its beam rose upward she knew it was more like four floors. Eduardo was lucky to be alive and as a matter of fact so was she. Sal knew it too.

"Long way down Doctor Spengler" he called. "Hold tight."

Echo got up and went over to retrieve the light. As she was returning to where Eduardo was sitting she reached back and turned off her proton pack. Eduardo was now bathed in a bright light so she could see him better than before. He looked pale but that was understandable for what he had been through.

"Ready to get out of here?" she asked Eduardo setting the flashlight down in front of him.

"Anytime Doctor Spengler."

"Doctor Spengler?" Sal was back and called down to her. "Heads up." With that being said Sal tossed a rope and climbing harness down to her. As Echo crossed to pick it up Sal continued.

"The opening is too small up here to send a man with equipment down to help you. Can you get Eduardo into the harness yourself? We can pull him up on our end, but if you can't we will have to wait a couple of hours for the backhoe to come."

"No Sal, I got it on this end. Eduardo is conscious."

Echo took the harness over to where Eduardo was. Helping him place his legs into the harness and carefully buckling it up she helped Eduardo get to his feet. Ever so slowly, they crossed to the rope. As Echo was tying the rope in place she explained to Eduardo what he needed to do.

"You need to wrap your right hand around the rope like this." she showed him, "And your feet too. Lean into the rope and try to stay focused on the ceiling. What ever you do, don't look down."

"Double or nothing Doctor Spengler?" Eduardo asked as he got ready to be hauled upwards.

"On what?" Echo tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at him as she called up to Sal. "Ready to go."

"Ready here." Sal called down.

"On whether Kylie hugs me like you told her not to." Eduardo answered as he started to leave the ground.

"No way." Echo called up after him. "You win that bet hands down. Good Luck."

"Thanks Doctor Spengler. I owe you one." Eduardo called back.

After Eduardo had been taken up, Echo turned and started gathering her things. She pulled Eduardo's proton pack over to where the rope had been. The proton pack would have to go up next as she couldn't carry two. Echo then went back for her 'med' kit. Zippering it up she placed the strap back over her head and picked up Sal's flashlight. As she scanned the floor to see that she had gotten everything she noticed that the 'hole' was a small cave barely able to fit four to five people in. Echo's light fell onto the PKE meter a few feet away by some rocks.

"You know you started all this." Echo told the object as she picked it up and stuck it under her belt. Echo heard the rope falling and turning away from the rocks went back to it. She wrapped the rope around the frame of the proton pack and tied it off.

"Ready to go next." Echo called up to Sal. "One more trip after this."

"Ready here." Sal called down.

As the proton pack rose from view, Echo watched it go. She was tired and hungry. Echo had only eaten lunch at the University at noon and had not had any dinner because of Doctor Pla making her stay late. That pizza that Eduardo had mentioned was sounding good right now. Echo sighed and looked at her watch. One thirty in the morning it said. Bed. That's what she wanted. To sleep. To dream. Doctor Spengler was coming off of her 'adrenaline high'. Most rescue workers would get this on the job as the work was finished.

The rope hit Echo on her head as it came down for the last time. "Boy, I must be tired." Echo told herself. A harness was attached to the end. Echo quickly stepped into it and fastened it up. After tying the rope as she had done for Eduardo and putting the flashlight into the strap of her proton pack she called up to Sal.

"Ready to go last one."

"Ready here." came Sal's reply.

As Echo felt herself being pulled towards the surface she relaxed and started thinking about sleep. Coming down from a 'adrenaline high' most rescue workers would find themselves tired all of a sudden. Thus it was with her. As Echo started to doze she didn't notice the PKE meter on her belt starting to slowly beep at her. Echo totally missed the shouting on the surface and the proton streams going off. What Echo did notice was that when she was three stories up the PKE meter went right off the scale. She awoke to the blaring of the thing. Looking at the meter it was too late.

A demonic entity, intent on causing harm to living beings, grabbed her right leg from below and pulled down hard. Before she could yell for help the rope snapped from above.

"DOCTOR SPENGLER!" was all she heard being screamed at the top of someone's lungs before blackness overtook her as Sal's flashlight went out and she fell to the ground below.

Echo hit hard on her back, her proton pack taking most of the blow. The momentum caused her to bounce back up and then as she came back down again she hit her head and landed on her right side. Echo saw the blackness creeping up the corners of her vision and welcomed it over the pain that she was feeling. She closed her eyes and gave in to it. Slipping into unconsciousness.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Egon stood with Ray by his side next to the Charles A. Dana Discovery Center (a visitor center run by the Central Park Conservancy) on the northern shore of Harlem Meer. As he looked out across the water to the west side, police and rescue activity could be seen. Work lights had been set up to illuminate the area. A backhoe lay silent and still next to the bustle of workers scrambling to retrieve items or relay items into the tree line.

Off to Egon's right, in the North Woods, the occasional shout and proton stream could be seen. Roland and Garrett were off trying to catch that last entity. After closing up his store for the night, Ray had stopped by the firehouse. He had gotten there in time for when Kylie had called with an update. Garrett, having changed into a new uniform earlier, suggested that they all go down there to help in anyway they could. Ray agreed with him.

Ray drove Egon's car up 8th Avenue taking it easy as they had no reason to rush. Kylie had said that they had found Eduardo and he was fine. The clock on the dashboard had read 1:45 a.m., when they left, as Ray and Egon talked about old times and Doctor Spengler's performance at NJPAC.

It wasn't until they came closer to Harlem Meer that they knew something was wrong. As Ray parked Egon's car behind Ecto-2 Garrett suited up and taking a radio wheeled off to find Roland, Kylie, and Eduardo. Egon had said to Garrett that he needed to take it easy because of his leg wound, and that Doctor Spengler would not be happy, but away he went anyways.

A 'Do Not Cross' police tape hung from a tree to the edge of the water. When Ray and Egon had tried to follow Garrett under the police tape they were stopped and told to wait by the discovery center. "What was going on?" Egon thought as they had walked over to the center a short distance away where a small crowd had gathered.

"Kylie didn't mention anything about a rescue did she?" Ray asked Egon as they got to the center.

"No."

Egon was pulled out of his thoughts by Ray tapping him on the shoulder and pointing with his cane to the police officer coming their way.

"Egon look."

One of New York's finest was carrying something heavy and awkward. Since there were no lights where the officer was walking Ray and Egon didn't see what he was carrying until the officer was almost upon them. It was a proton pack. Egon's heart sank as he recognized it.

"Evening Doctor Stantz, Professor Spengler." The officer said turning on his flashlight. "I figured you wanted this back."

The officer set the proton pack down on the ground, handed Ray the flashlight, and stepped back while Ray and Egon knelt down in the grass beside it. Egon was in shock. This was his old pack. He was beginning to feel sick to his stomach. Egon saw that the ion arm had been snapped off. The power cell and injectors were badly smashed in. The ribbon cable hung loose, detached from the cyclotron. The lights were also broken on the cyclotron. The N-filter was bent but more importantly the neutrona blaster was missing.

"Spengs look!" Ray said picking up the hose that connected to the blaster. "It's been ripped out. Where's the neutrona blaster?"

"Where are the other parts?" Egon asked the officer, clearly shaken.

"Other parts?" The officer was confused. "This is all they gave me out of the hole."

"Hole?" Egon was starting to worry. Where was his daughter?

"Yea. One of your team members fell down a hole and we were called to come get them out." he said in a matter of fact way. Taking his flashlight back from Ray he turned and walked back the way he had come.

"Which team member took your old pack? Are the new proton packs not working correctly?" Ray questioned Egon.

Egon looked at Ray. Realization dawned on Ray's face when he saw how pale Egon was.

"Was Echo with them?" he reverently whispered.

Egon fell forward onto his hands and crawled away from Ray a few feet to lose the contents of his stomach into the grass.

Ray stood up and walked over to his friend.

"Egon?" he quietly said.

"Yes, Ray." Egon said as he tried to stand back up.

Ray helped him to his feet and handed him a handkerchief from his pocket for Egon to wipe his mouth with.

"The police won't let us go that way." Ray said nodding to the path the police officer had taken. "So let's head around by the Lasker Rink and Pool and come in behind them. I have to know where my niece is."

"As do I."

Egon was clearly upset and walking almost on autopilot. Ray, carrying the broken proton pack, led the way around the water to go see what was happening. As the pair came around by Lasker Rink and Pool Ray heard a bird call. He knew it immediately. Egon was not listening and kept on walking.

"Egon, Stop!" Ray said as he grabbed his friends jacket sleeve. "Listen, it's the guys."

Egon stopped walking and looked around. He didn't see anyone. He only heard Ray whistling a bird call to the North Woods.

Suddenly two figures appeared from the trees and walked towards them. As they approached Egon finally connected the calls and people. He had been so worried about his daughter he had missed the teams call to wait up for them.

Ray had taught Peter, Winston, and him to whistle bird calls to one another when they were in the field if they didn't have or couldn't use their radios. The whistling was usually heard clearer then shouting and the team found it didn't scare the ghosts off either. Ray had even taught it to the new team members.

Now Ray and Egon stood waiting for Garrett and Roland to join them. As Garrett wheeled closer Egon could see that he had not taken it easy. On his lap lay a smoking ghost trap while Roland carried another one beside him. Both young men were covered in ectoplasm but smiling none the less.

"We got em' Professor Spengler." Roland said as he came to a stop in front of them.

"Not too happy about it either." agreed Garrett holding up his ghost trap.

As Garrett lifted his trap off of his legs Egon saw that his pant leg was stained with blood. Boy was Echo going to kill him.

"Garrett you're bleeding!" Ray said coming forward to look at the wound.

"Oh that." Garrett said trying to make it sound like nothing had happened. "I just reopened an old wound. Doctor Spengler is probably going to kill me now, but I had to go help Roland catch that demonic entity that hurt her."

"Hurt her?" Egon said. Now it was his turn to look scared.

"Yes, come on Professor Spengler, Doctor Stantz, I'll explain as we walk." Roland said taking the ghost trap and hanging it on his belt.

Roland then took Egon by the arm and turned him towards the rescue activity. "We need to hurry. I told Sal I wouldn't be gone that long."

"Sal's here?" Ray asked.

"Yes he came when Kylie called the paramedics for Eduardo." Roland said.

As the group hurried towards the west side of Harlem Meer and the tree line, where all the activity was taking place, Roland filled Egon and Ray in on what had happened. Apparently Doctor Spengler had found Eduardo at the bottom of a hole. When Egon asked Roland how she had gotten down the hole to Eduardo he told Egon he didn't know. Echo had called Kylie and him on the radio to let them know that Eduardo was fine. When they had gotten there, Roland had sent Kylie to call the paramedics and the firehouse. When the paramedics arrived Eduardo was pulled to safety. As they were pulling Doctor Spengler to the surface, that's when the demonic entity appeared with a couple of the earlier Class 2's right behind it.

As Roland and Kylie tried to hold off the Class 2's, the demonic entity had gotten hold of the rope that the rescue team was using to haul Doctor Spengler up with and snapped it in two. Roland heard Sal screaming Doctor Spengler's name as she had fallen back down to the ground.

"How far did she fall?" Ray asked Roland.

"Sorry. I don't know. I didn't see. Only Sal saw as I was busy chasing ghosts." Roland replied.

"Where is Eduardo and Kylie?" Ray questioned Roland once more.

"Eduardo was being put into the back of the ambulance when all hell broke loose. Kylie and I had trapped two of the ghouls already and I sent her back to Ecto-2 for more ghost traps. When Kylie returned with another trap she said that the paramedics needed someone to go with Eduardo to the hospital with them. So I told her to go and went after the last two ghosts. That's when Garrett found me and the rest you know."

The men had come around a bend in the path while Roland had been talking and stopped dead in their tracks. Before them was the place where Echo must have found Eduardo.

A search and rescue worker was on his stomach looking down into a hole in the ground a few feet inside the tree line. His left hand was guiding a cable from a pulley overhead, while near him another worker was running the machine to lower the cable. Work lights all around made the place look like it was day time and not night.

"Hold up!" came Sal's voice from below.

"Holding." the worker replied down the hole. "What's wrong?"

"She's seizing!" Sal replied.

Egon was gone before the others even had a chance to turn to look at him. He ran the last few feet and skidded to a stop. Dropping to his stomach Egon army crawled the last few inches to look over the edge of the hole.

"Hey you can't be here!" the rescue worker told Egon getting up to remove the intruder from the scene.

Egon ignored him. "SAL!" he shouted down the hole.

"Professor Spengler! When did you get here?" Sal replied.

Ray and the rest of the team came up and took the worker to the side who had been trying to get Egon up off the ground. Ray explained that the person they were rescuing was one of their team and that Egon was a relative. After promising to keep out of the way, except for Egon, the worker allowed them to stay.

As Egon looked down into the hole he could see that lights had been set up for the workers to see better. Egon could see Sal working over his daughter. Another two EMT's, who Egon didn't know, helped Sal to prevent his daughter from hurting herself as her body shook from the seizure. A third rescue worker was holding an intravenous bag of fluids above his daughter. Sal was administering medicine into a catheter in her left arm. Soon Echo's shaking stopped.

"I didn't need that." Sal said to the EMT's wiping his arm across his brow. "Let's get Doctor Spengler out of here now!"

As Egon watched, the men carefully placed a backboard next to his daughter. Sal then went to Echo's head and studied it as one of his helpers placed a neck brace on her. Then as a team, like they had been taught, the men carefully transferred Echo to the backboard.

"Watch that leg!" Sal said to a rescue worker.

Egon could see that his daughter's right leg had been splinted and dressings were piled on top. Compound fracture of the lower limb he knew. If it was just the splint it would have been a closed fracture, the dressing gave it away. The dressings were probably wrapped around a protruding bone.

After strapping Echo in place on the backboard, Sal and the EMT's then carried her over to a rescue basket that sat on the ground. Echo was placed into the basket. One of the EMT's fastened her into the basket, another was lying a blanket across her, and the third was shutting off the fluids that she had been receiving and placing the bag next to Echo inside the basket.

"Ready to go." Sal called up.

"Ready here." the rescue worker next to Egon called down and turning to his partner nodded. The other worker started up the machine so the cable was now moving upwards with the basket in tow.

"Be up in a minute Professor Spengler. We can ride together to Mount Sinai Hospital." Sal called to him.

"Thanks Sal, I owe you one."

"Another time, Professor."

Egon got up and backed away as more rescue workers came to retrieve the basket. A waiting gurney was nearby. As the rescue workers unsnapped the basket, another rescue worker picked up the intravenous fluids, and turning them back on, held the bag up while they carried the basket over to the ground beside the gurney. As the rescue workers were transferring Echo from the basket to the gurney the cable was sent back down to Sal.

By the time Sal was up on solid ground, his daughter had been transferred to the gurney still attached to the backboard.

"Come on, Professor Spengler." Sal said grabbing Egon's jacket arm and jogging over to the gurney. "Bring Doctor Stantz and your friends too."

Ray didn't have to be told twice. As Egon looked back to say something, Ray was already by his side. The group reached Echo and as Sal shooed the others away, told Ray and Roland to take the back of the gurney. Sal sent Egon to his daughter's right side while he took the left. Sal took Echo's fluids from the worker and placed them onto his shoulder. A common practice when rescue workers were in the field and moving a patient.

When Sal gave the signal they all pulled or pushed the gurney to the waiting ambulance. Garrett followed behind in his wheelchair. Egon could see that Echo had lost her glasses in the fall. The right side of her head was bruised and bloody. "Boy she looks pale." Egon said to himself. "Please don't die sweetheart. I need you."

While they were walking, Sal gave orders to an EMT who nodded to Sal and took off towards the ambulance. The group arrived at the waiting ambulance in no time. Sal handed the fluids off to a paramedic as they took over loading Echo into the back of the ambulance. Sal then turned to the group of men.

"Professor Spengler you can ride with me in the back. Doctor Stantz I'm afraid I don't have room for you or your friends." Sal told them.

"We will meet you there. Are you going to Mount Sinai Hospital?" Ray asked.

"Yes." Sal replied helping Egon into the back of the ambulance.

Ray, Roland, and Garret stood back as the paramedics closed the door on the Spengler's and Sal. As the ambulance rolled away, all Ray could see was Egon's pale worried face in the window.

"Don't loose it just yet my friend." Ray said as he stood watching them drive away.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Ray stood in the doorway of the dimly lit room. Echo was in a hospital bed, hooked up to every kind of monitor that the nurses could find in the place, Ray had decided. His friend Egon sat next to the bed, with his body in a chair and his head on the bed, right under Echo's left hand. Egon had his eyes closed and was finally sleeping Ray knew. Ray needed sleep as well, but would have to wait until Peter and Dana arrived in half an hour. Leaning on his cane in his right hand, Ray let out the breath he had been holding in. What a morning it had turned out to be for him, his niece, and his best friend.

Ray had closed his shop late on Friday night. He usually liked to be home by eight, but something had made him stay open longer. He had blamed it on that darn ghost in the basement that he just couldn't bring himself around to trapping. So when he had finally had enough of the pipes banging from his ghost friend, Ray closed his store and went to the firehouse to see if anything was going on before he went home.

Ray hadn't expected to get involved with the rescue of his niece from a four story drop down a hole. When they had all gotten to the hospital Sal had filled them in on when Doctor Echo Spengler's line had snapped.

"There was nothing I could do. The line just snapped as I watched Doctor Spengler land on her back, with her proton pack still on, her leg then snapped, and because of the momentum, bounced back up and landed on her right side, hitting her head on some rocks." Sal told the group.

Sal had been the first one by Echo's side, after he had found another rope to get down to her, and had never left her.

"Thank the Lord that she carries that 'med' kit with her." Sal said.

"Why?" questioned Ray.

"Because I was able to use it to get a catheter into her right away." Sal replied.

Sal had taken Ray and Egon into the trauma room at the hospital where they were working on Echo. Roland and Garrett had been taken to another room where Garrett received new stitches, because he had pulled the old ones out chasing after the demonic entity. Ray smiled remembering how Garrett had told the nurses and attending doctor that their stitches were not as neat as Doctor Spengler's were.

Ray closed his eyes and let his head rest against the left side of the door frame. It had been touch and go for his niece for awhile. Ray remembered that as soon as Echo had gotten into the hospital's trauma room she had seizured again. The attending doctor ordered blood work and radiographs immediately while he brought her seizures under control. While this was going on a nurse was cutting her jumpsuit off of her and an attending doctor was placing a central line.

When the radiographs came back, five minutes later, Echo was taken for a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), a Computed Tomography (CT) scan, a Computed Tomograph Angiography (CTA), and a spinal tap, to detect blood in the spinal fluid, right away. What the staff found caused everyone to kick it into high gear. Doctor Spengler had a brain aneurysm that was putting pressure on her cranial nerves causing the seizures. Echo would need a sensitive surgery right away to relieve the pressure and stop the blood clot. Ray had signed the consent form for his niece's endovascular coiling surgery as his friend Egon was paralyzed with fear. Ray had seen Egon like this only one other time. That was the time when they were developing photographs of Vigo the Carpathian. When the photographs had suddenly burst into flames and they couldn't get the fire out, Egon had plastered himself to the wall with fear. Winston had busted down the door, with fire extinguisher in hand, and soon the fire was out. No one had been hurt however, it had taken Egon two weeks before he would go back into that room again.

The surgery for Echo wasn't without its pit falls either. Because of Echo's condition the hospital decided that Doctor Spengler couldn't be put through two operations a few days apart, which was their normal protocol. So a first for the hospital was that the two surgeries would be done one right after the other. The neurosurgeon, Doctor Henry Moyle, would do an endovascular coiling. This procedure involves the insertion of platinum coils through a microcatheter into the aneurysm. These coils would form a ball that would exclude the aneurysm from the normal vessel. In some instances, a small flexible stent would be placed in the vessel to hold the coils in the aneurysm. His niece also needed an orthopedic surgeon to do an "ORIF". "ORIF" stood for Open Reduction and Internal Fixation. A two part surgery Ray knew. The first part of the surgery was when Echo's broken bone was reduced or put back into place where the tibia belonged. The second part of the surgery was for Doctor Elton Strauss to place a internal fixation device into the bone. In Echo's case this was a titanium rod. Doctor Strauss had been in practice for over 30 years and had dedicated himself to the treatment of the most difficult cases involving fractures and joint replacement. He was the same doctor that had replaced Ray's knee many years ago.

During Echo's neurosurgery her heart had stopped. His niece had been legally dead for eight minutes before the doctor and nurses had gotten her back. Egon, Ray, and Sal had been allowed in the observation room to watch the surgery. Egon had nearly went insane when his daughter had gone into cardiac arrest. Sal had bodily removed Egon from the room and they had gone for a long walk outside. Ray had been left to watch the life and death struggle for his niece.

Ray knew what Egon was going through. Losing a family member was never easy and to see it happening before your eyes was even harder. Ray had just lost his sister three months prior and now he was having to live it all over again with Echo.

Ray opened his eyes and stretched his left arm above his head. He then switched the cane to his other hand and repeated the motion. Everything had turned out good from both surgeries. Echo's aneurysm was dealt with and her leg was set and in a cast. Sal told them that she would now be setting off the airport detectors because of the metal in her leg. Only one thing was wrong. Echo had never woken up from the surgeries.

As Ray saw Egon stir, half on the hospital bed, he was worried. The doctors had run another MRI and CT scan to see what the problem was now. Ray and Egon were just waiting for the results of those new tests to see why Echo wouldn't respond. As of this moment, the doctors had told them that his niece was in a coma.

Ray felt someone tapping him on the shoulder. He turned around to see who it was. Peter and Dana stood before him with worry etched into their tired looking faces.

"Peter! Dana! It's great to see you." Ray said as he pulled Peter into a bear hug and then after releasing him hugged and kissed Dana on her check.

"How is she?" Peter asked quietly.

"Right now the doctors say stable, but in a coma." Ray replied.

"Oh, poor Egon." Dana said as she walked past the men and into the room.

Very softly she tapped Egon on his shoulder and whispered, "Egon dear."

Egon stirred and muttered, "Eden?"

"No. It's Dana. Peter and I are here now." Dana replied as she knelt in front of Egon's chair stroking his arm with her right hand.

Peter looked to Ray and knitted his brows together. He was worried about Egon. Something was not right with his friend. Egon hadn't spoken Eden's name aloud in their presence in ten years. Peter hoped this wasn't the start of a mental breakdown because of what had happened with his daughter.

"Dana?" Egon said opening his eyes and raising his head up from the bed.

"Yes! It's me Egon."

"Good morning sleepy head." Peter said to Egon.

Egon's face turned from Dana to Peter. As Egon looked at Peter his whole demeanor changed in an instant. If looks could kill Egon was sporting a devil of one.

"You!" Egon nearly shouted at Peter. "Where have you been Peter?"

"Dana and I were in upstate New York, in Buffalo. We were…."

Peter never finished his sentence. Egon cut him off as he rose from his chair, his hands balled into fists ready for a fight.

"You were suppose to be the one on call!" Egon now shouted at him. "Not us! This is all your fault!"

Egon's shouting brought the attending doctor, nurses, and security guards on the floor running into the room. Ray and Dana watched as the security guards escort the two arguing men out of Echo's room and then off of the floor.

"Well," Dana said to Ray, "that went well."

"I'm sorry Dana." Ray replied as he helped her up off the floor. "Egon's finally gone off the deep end. He has been building up emotionally over the last six hours and I am afraid that Peter just set him off."

"I do hope Egon will be fine." Dana said as she sat down in the chair that Egon had left and took Echo's left hand in hers. "I know how Egon feels. Peter has been beating himself up on the drive down here. He refused to let me drive so he could get some sleep. Kept saying it was his fault because he forgot about Echo's concert."

"Dana it's no one's fault. It's just the luck of the draw. It comes from the business we are in. Echo knew that going in and still she went with the team. Hell, if she had not been with us that one day in January of 2007 I wouldn't be here today." Ray finished.

"Your right Ray, but Peter is the one that needs to hear this not me." Dana said as she took her left hand and placed a lock of Echo's hair back into place.

"I know," Ray sighed. "I just hope they talk to each other and don't try and kill each other first."

Peter and Egon had been escorted out of Mount Sinai Hospital and across 5th Avenue to Central Park. Both men were exhausted, having gotten in a few good punches between security guards dragging them down the halls, stairwells, and finally out the front doors. As they stood facing the East Meadow, Egon put up his hands and then threw them down in disgust as he turned and walked away from Peter. If Peter followed him Egon didn't care, he only wanted to be left alone. It was Saturday morning and Central Park was starting to fill with people. Egon had only gotten a couple of hours of sleep. His daughter had died right before his eyes that morning and now she was in a coma, unresponsive to his calls. Egon lifted his head towards the sky and cried, "It's just not fair!"

As Egon dropped his head to the ground so did his spirits. "Oh," he thought "I'm going to loose Echo too."

Egon spied a park bench not too far off and headed for it. As he sat heavily down onto it he placed his head between his legs and started to weep. Peter had followed Egon when he had walked away from him. While Egon was sitting on the bench Peter came over and sat down next to him. After letting Egon have some private time Peter hunched over and finally spoke to him in a quiet voice.

"Egon. I'm so sorry for what has happened. I feel it's my fault. I forgot about Echo's concert yesterday. If I could trade places with Echo right now I would do it in a heartbeat and deep down I think you know that."

Egon raised his head and looked up at Peter. Peter looked just as tired as Egon felt right now. Looking into Peter's eyes, Egon saw that he truly meant what he had said.

"I'm the one who should be sorry Peter." Egon spoke. "Sorry for loosing my head. Sorry about hitting you. Sorry for blaming you."

"Yea we need to talk about that," Peter said as he sat back on the bench.

"About what?"

"The blaming game. Are you still blaming yourself over Eden's death?"

Egon looked shocked. Sitting up, he turned his head away from Peter. After Eden had been lost Egon had gone to Peter to find solace. But after telling Peter that he felt it was his fault that Eden had died, Egon came away with nothing but guilt.

"Egon?" Peter gently asked.

Egon sighed. Peter was right. He was still blaming himself ten years later over the loss of his wife. Egon couldn't speak the words, he only nodded his head yes.

"I thought so when I heard you call Eden's name in the hospital when Dana was talking to you. Egon, you have to let Eden go. You know that right? We talked about this ten years ago and you had promised me then that you would."

"I can't." Egon cried, looking up towards the sky again. "I keep hearing her voice call to me."

Peter hadn't heard this from his friend before. It puzzled him.

"For how long?" Peter asked gently.

Egon dropped his head. Could he confide in Peter? His heart was deeply troubled and maybe if he talked about it Peter could help him. He didn't know what else to do.

Egon heaved a sigh. "Oh, on and off for a couple of years now. Her voice gets louder the closer to 9/11 each year. At first it was only whispers, thoughts, and then last year she spoke to me. At least I thought she spoke to me. It was barely a whisper. I figured it was only me hearing her, but then yesterday at the house Eden's voice was audible and at NJPAC Echo said she heard her mother also."

"Echo really misses her mother more then you know Egon."

"I got that feeling last night from her at the concert. Oh Peter, you should have heard her play her heart out for Eden."

"I'm so sorry that I missed it, but work called and I had to go to Buffalo on short notice. Paranormal investigations with the crew of Ghost Hunters is always interesting."

Egon nodded his head. Since the new team had taken over the "Ghostbusters" business in New York City, Peter had gotten a job with the reality television show Ghost Hunters. He was part of the investigations crew with Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson. A safer line of work than what Ray, Winston, Peter, and he had done when they were younger. He had taken a position with the university and Ray had opened his occult book store. Winston had joined the Air Force and was a pilot now.

"Peter." Egon said to his friend. "I feel hopeless, like everything is out of control. I can't help thinking that if I had put my foot down and told Eden not to go she would still be here."

Peter sat listening to Egon express his thoughts. After Egon had finished he paused before he spoke next.

"Egon you feel guilt over Eden, while your daughter feels like she has to save her."

"What? Echo has to save her mother? Where is this coming from?" Egon accused Peter.

"Echo has been coming to talk to me for many years now over the death of her mother."

"You? Why you? Echo knows she can talk to me."

"Echo feels that you wouldn't understand her." Peter swallowed and then continued. "I had promised Echo that I would never tell you this, but under the circumstances…." Peter trailed off.

Now Egon was alert. He and Echo never kept any secrets from one another. He wondered what was so bad that she had confided in Peter to keep it from him. Egon waited for Peter to continue.

"That day on 9/11 you know that Eden had dropped off Echo in the morning so she could head to the Twin Towers and her meeting. You also know that my apartment's windows faced the Twin Towers."

Peter turned towards Egon and saw that his face had turned white. Realization was dawning on Egon but Peter had to speak the words to his dear friend.

"Egon. I am so sorry. Echo saw the plane hit the North tower. The tower where she knew her mother was. Echo watched helplessly as it fell to the ground."

"Oh shit!" Egon said.

Egon took a moment, then slowly rose to his feet. Egon's heart broke at that moment. He started walking north. Why didn't it occur to him that Echo may have witnessed the tragedy first hand and not off of re-runs from the television? Now he knew why she hadn't wanted to go to "Ground Zero" on the first year anniversary and he had made her go. What had he done? Oh Hell, now he knew why she had cried through the ceremony and why Dana had taken her away. Egon knew Echo was upset over her mother, but now he saw it was more than that. Echo didn't want to be where her mother had lost her life. Helpless at nine years of age when it had happen. Damn. Egon had just realized why, after loosing his wife, Echo had turned towards anything medical. Echo would ask for bedtime stories of search and rescue tales. She would read any first aid books she could get her hands upon. Now Egon knew why at the age of twelve Echo volunteered to ride along with the EMT's and paramedics. That was where she had met Sal. Sal who had taken the young teenager under his wing and taught her everything that he knew.

Peter had risen from the bench and was following behind Egon as he walked north through Central Park. It had been hard living with the secret for ten years. Peter was finally glad it was out and in the open.

"Peter?" Egon asked.

Peter quickened his pace to walk beside Egon. "Yes."

"Thank you for telling me this. Now the last ten years of mine and Echo's lives makes sense. We are both still holding onto Eden in our own way. Somehow we need to find a way to let her go. Can you help me Peter?"

"Yes Egon I can, please tell me what Eden says when she speaks to you."

"Eden spoke to me at the house when I was upset over forgetting about her death. She told me 'It's fine', and then at the theater Eden spoke to Echo 'Well done daughter. Well done.' Echo told me she thought she heard her mother singing to her as well. Then, when we were at the firehouse and I was alone in my old lab, Eden told me to listen to my own advice."

"What advice was that?" Peter asked. The pair was coming into view of the Conservatory Gardens now.

"I was telling Kylie that Eduardo's disappearance was no one's fault."

"And it isn't Egon. I think Eden is trying to tell you something. Have you spoken back to her and asked what she wants?"

"No. I'm afraid to."

"I suggest that the next time Eden talks to you, you ask her what is wrong. I believe she is still here for some reason and only you can help her."

"I'll try Peter."

The pair walked in silence past the Conservatory Gardens and on towards Harlem Meer in the far northeast corner of Central Park. Somehow Egon was drawn to the place and had to see it in the daylight. As they came into view of the place where Echo had been hurt, Egon came to a halt. He sat down in the grass next to Peter and watched as the backhoe was now at work, filling in the hole so that no one else could get hurt.

After scooping a shovel full of dirt out of a dump truck, the driver of the backhoe turned the shovel towards the hole and dumped the dirt down into the opening. Back and forth the machine went until the hole had been filled.

"That's what you and Echo need to do." Peter pointed out to Egon. "Fill in old holes. Make things right again in your lives. Start anew."

"I just hope Echo pulls through this." Egon told Peter. "Parents shouldn't have to outlive their children."

Echo opened her eyes. It was pitch black. She couldn't see anything, not even her hand in front of her face. She reached out with her hands and took a tentative step forward. Nothing stopped her, no walls, no light. Echo took another step. Still no wall. No way of knowing where she was. "Stupid." Echo told herself. "Turn on your pack."

Echo remembered she had been wearing her proton pack when she went looking for Eduardo. As she reached back to turn the proton pack on, all she felt was her own back. No pack was there. Wait? Where was her father's proton pack?

Echo's head hurt so much. She couldn't think straight. What had she been doing right before this? Eduardo. She remembered finding Eduardo. He had been hurt. Yes. That was right and he was trapped where…. A sharp pain hit Echo hard. She put her right hand on her head. Why did her head hurt so much?

Her cloudy mind was trying to focus. "Think Echo." she told herself. "Eduardo was trapped…"

Down something, somewhere, far below… yes there it was. That thought that had been eluding her. Eduardo had fallen down a hole. Dislocated his shoulder. Sal had come. Helped her pull Eduardo to the surface and then Sal had come back to help her. But why did her head hurt so much?

"Ouch!" Now something hit her in the chest. Something was now on top of her pounding on her chest. Echo found she couldn't breathe. The pain was excruciating. She fell to the ground into a fetal position and closed her eyes wishing, willing the pain to stop.

"Echo."

Someone was calling her. She tried to call back. Wanting to ask for help but was not able to speak. She was not able to breathe at all. Gasping for breath between the pain in her head and chest, she felt as if she was being killed.

"Echo." the voice called again. "Open your eyes and the pain will be gone."

Somehow Echo knew that voice. She remembered hearing it before, so long ago. Could she trust it? She didn't see how opening her eyes was going to make her situation any better, but the pain she was feeling now was unbearable. Echo decided she was going to try and do as the voice suggested. She figured she had nothing to lose and if it didn't work she could always close her eyes again.

Echo opened her eyes. Immediately the pain was gone. Another thing she noticed was that it was light. Bright in fact. As she sat up she had to shade her eyes from that light. Where was she?

"See. That's better now sweetheart."

There was that voice again. Echo had to blink her eyes. The light was brighter than the noonday sun and tears were forming in the corners of her eyes because of it. Who was calling her? Sweetheart it said. Only two people in the world had called her that. Her father Egon and her mother Eden.

"Echo. Can you see me?"

Echo closed her eyes and rubbed them. She felt that her glasses were gone. What had happened to her? Carefully, very carefully, she opened her eyes again. Someone was standing before her. A little blurry at first and then to her surprise became clearer, as if she was wearing her glasses. How was that possible?

Echo was staring at the ground as she finished opening her eyes all the way. Brown ankle boots under a blue pair of pants was before her. As she followed them upward she could now see that the person was a woman wearing a blue pant suit with a cream colored blouse. The kind you would wear if you were a business woman. As Echo's eyes came to the woman's face she stopped. No it couldn't be? Not a day older than when she had been left at Dana and Peter's apartment in September. The woman was dressed the same as the day that she had died.

"Mother?" Echo choked out.

"Yes sweetheart! It's me."

Echo tried to stand up but couldn't make it, falling back onto her hands. How could her mother be here? Echo had seen her die. Was she also dead? Now she remembered why her head had been hurting her. Echo had fallen when she was being rescued. The rope had snapped and she had fallen to her death. Yes, that must be right.

"Mother?" Echo tried again.

"Yes?" Eden said as she knelt down beside her daughter.

"Am I dead?" Echo asked softly.

"Yes." came the reply.

Echo's head was spinning now. She was with her mother. But something wasn't right with the picture. Something, someone was missing. Oh that's right.

"Mother, is father here?"

"No little one. He is still among the living."

As much as Echo loved and missed being with her mother, how was her father going to cope? He had already lost the love of his life, could he lose another?

"Mother."

"Yes?"

"What about father? I don't think I can leave him yet."

"I know and I don't want you to either."

"But I'm dead."

"Yes and no. Echo you have a choice. You can choose to stay with me or you can go back and stay with your father."

"I don't understand."

"Here, let me show you." Eden reached out and took her daughter's hand in hers.

Eden helped Echo get to her feet and started walking with her towards a white brick wall a few feet away. Eden sat down on the edge of the wall and beckoned to Echo to do the same. Echo sat down facing her mother and looked over her right shoulder into the abyss below.

"Below us is the world. Present day." Eden explained. "Every action of ours has an equal and opposite reaction."

"I know this. It's Newton's third law of motion." Echo told her mother.

"Correct! Everything we do can go one of two ways. We can choose for ourselves right from wrong. We can choose to stop the hating, or we can hate and grow miserable within ourselves. We can use weapons to hurt others or we can choose to drop the knife and end the hurting and pain. Echo you have that choice right now but before you make your decision, you are allowed to see the consequences of your actions."

"But I'm dead Mother. How can I have a choice?"

Eden took her left hand and waved it over the abyss. The scene changed from the green-blue world of planet earth that they had been looking at to a young woman in white on a table. Someone was on top of the woman pounding on her chest. As Echo looked closer she now understood. The young woman was her. She was on a surgery table in a hospital operating room. Her heart had stopped and she was being given CPR to try and start her heart again. She recognized the doctor performing the CPR. It was Doctor Henry Moyle the neurosurgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital.

"Where is father?" Echo asked her mother.

Eden swept her hand back the other way and the scene changed again.

There was her father, Ray and Sal looking down from the observation room above the surgery suite. Echo knew the place because she had watched other surgeries there often.

"No!" her father was screaming. "Not Echo too!"

Sal was physically removing her father from the room as Ray looked on with a white face.

"Fight Echo! Fight!" Ray said down to her.

The scene went back to the green-blue world of Earth.

"Mother?" Echo asked. "Is that going on right now?"

"Yes." Eden replied. "That is why you can choose."

"What if I choose to stay here?"

Eden again took her left hand and waved it over the abyss. Echo now saw her father sitting in a chair in their living room at the house. He was sporting a beard now and his hair was longer and unkempt. As long as Echo had known her father he was always clean shaven and kept his hair in a ponytail. But it had never been this long before. When she was growing up it was a little shorter than shoulder length if he ever had his hair out of a ponytail. Now her father's hair was down past his shoulders and it was white.

The house was gloomy and unkempt too. Egon looked sickly to her and it broke Echo's heart. An eight by ten picture frame stood on the end table next to the chair. On one side was a picture of her mother in her wedding dress and on the other was her picture that she had taken with the "Batta" for NJPAC. The phone ringing startled Egon in his chair. He made no attempt to answer it and finally the machine picked up. Peter's voice could be heard on the machine.

"Egon I know you're home. Pick up the phone. We need to talk about Eden and Echo. You have to let them go. They need to be released. Egon! Pick up!"

As Peter continued to talk to the machine, Egon could be heard yelling at the machine and Peter.

"No Peter! I will NEVER let them go!"

The scene changed back to the green-blue planet of Earth once again.

Echo was confused. Why would her mother show her this?

"I still don't understand." Echo told her mother.

"Your father has refused to let me go. He believes it is his fault that I died. If you stay, this is your fate too."

Eden now waved her right hand, not over the abyss, but out over the empty room. As Eden's hand came down, Echo looked to her left to see a room full of people that had not been there before.

"We are here because, there are those of our family members on earth that can't let us go. We all want to move on with what we have to do in this afterlife, but we all have to be released by someone first."

As Eden was speaking Echo saw a man start to change before her eyes. His blue jeans and red top started to sparkle and dance with light. Before Echo knew it he was dressed all in white. Echo looked to her mother for an answer and saw her smiling.

"He has been released." was all she said.

As Echo turned back to look, the man was gone.

"We are destined for greater things in the afterlife Echo." Eden started to explain, "But when we die, if we are not given permission to go, we have to stay here to walk among the wounded until such time we can go on to the next level, so to speak."

"Do you still need to be released?" Echo asked, realizing now what was going on.

"Yes."

"Am I holding you back too?"

"Yes."

"If I go back, how do I release you?"

"Echo, find the words in your heart. They are there and then tell me it is O.K. if I leave. Let me know that everything will be fine without me."

"Father too?"

"Yes."

The scene changed below them again to the hospital room.

"Doctor Moyle, I'm going to call it." a nurse was saying.

"Echo you must choose now." Eden said.

Echo looked at her mother. How she missed her all these years. Tears came to her eyes realizing she would never see her mother again. Echo took her mother into her arms in a farewell hug.

"Echo sweetheart. I will always be with you." Eden said as she broke the embrace. "In here." Eden took her right hand and placed it over Echo's heart.

"Doctor Moyle! I have to call it." the nurse said again.

"Echo, my daughter, choose now."

Echo smiled at her mother. She now knew how to save her.

"I choose life." And with that she was gone.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Egon stood in the shower letting the water wash away his worries for the time being. It had been a long hard week for him and his friends. Turning his face into the spray he ran his hands down the sides of his face. He needed to shave. He could feel the week's worth of beard on his face. "Maybe later." he told himself. "When Echo is better." Then again, he had been telling himself that the whole week.

Egon pulled down the shower seat from the wall, which had been installed for Garrett, and sat down. The water now hit him in the chest as he let his head fall back to rest upon the wall. Egon closed his eyes and thought back over the events of the last week.

After Peter and Egon had sat on the grass by Harlem Meer for a couple of hours talking, they had made their way back to Mount Sinai Hospital. Once there Egon and Peter had apologized to the staff and security guards over their earlier behavior. After checking in on his daughter, to find that there was no new changes, Egon left Peter and Dana to keep watch over her.

Before leaving the hospital with Ray, Egon had checked in on Eduardo. He was none the worse for wear and lucky to be alive. Sitting up in bed, with his left arm in a sling and stitches above his right eye, Eduardo welcomed the older men into the room.

"Professor Spengler! Doctor Stantz! Come in."

"How are you feeling Eduardo?" Egon asked as he stepped into the private room.

"Oh, not so bad, but the morphine they are giving me upsets my stomach. I've told them about it but the nurses say that I need it for my shoulder and broken ribs. Maybe you can talk to them. I'd like to go home, but when I am constantly 'tossing my cookies' the staff here wouldn't let me."

"I'll talk to them." said Ray as he turned around and left the room to go to the nurses' station.

"Thanks." Eduardo called to Ray's retreating back.

"So." Egon said taking a seat in an armchair in front of Eduardo's bed. "What do you remember?"

"About what happened? Everything! Except for when I was unconscious of course. And I know what you are going to ask already. What did I do wrong? I've been thinking about that. I followed all the rules and still got hurt. There was nothing I could have done differently, or Doctor Spengler for that matter either. It's the line of work that we do." Eduardo said. Raising his right hand and pointing to Egon he continued. "You know that. Doctor Spengler knows that. Every team member of the Ghostbusters knows that."

Eduardo lowered his hand and released a breath.

"Professor. I love the work that I do for you. It is exciting and new everyday. College wasn't for me. Not that you were a bad teacher, don't get me wrong. I just needed action in my life, not books. I'm a hands on kind of guy. And…" Eduardo looked away from Egon now. "…if I happen to get hurt or even die while on the job I will have no regrets, because I'm doing what I love."

Eduardo looked back to Egon. Egon nodded his head in agreement. He had felt the same way at one point in his life. He knew what Eduardo was talking about. If Egon had died crossing the proton pack's streams that day facing Gozer the Gozerian he would have died happy. Content that what he was doing was right. But then his priorities had changed when he had met Eden. Would Eduardo have that same conviction when Kylie and he were married? Egon didn't know the answer to that. Only Eduardo knew.

"Professor Spengler?" Eduardo asked.

"Yes Eduardo."

"How is Doctor Spengler?"

"The staff will not tell us." Kylie spoke from the doorway.

Eduardo and Egon turned their heads as one to see Kylie standing in the doorway of the room. She was a mess. Kylie had her jumpsuit unzipped to the waist and it was soiled with dirt and ectoplasm residue. There were a couple of rips in the jumpsuit which corresponded to the holes in her black T-shirt which she wore underneath. Kylie looked different without her goth makeup on. Egon realized she must have gone to the restroom to try and freshen up. Her hair was damp as if she had tried to wash the dirt away.

"Honey, how long have you been there?" Eduardo asked.

"Long enough." Kylie said entering the room. Going straight for Eduardo's bed she plopped herself down on the end of it facing Egon. "So?"

"So what?" Egon asked.

"Doctor Spengler. How is she?" Kylie asked again.

"No one's told you anything?" Egon questioned the pair. "Roland? Garrett?"

Eduardo and Kylie looked to each other and then back to Egon.

"No." they said together.

Egon sighed before he said. "Doctor Spengler is in a coma."

Eduardo and Kylie were shocked. Egon filled them in on what had happened after they both had left in the ambulance for Mount Sinai Hospital. As he was finishing Ray came back into the room.

"Eduardo the doctors are going to change your pain medication. Egon we need to get going. I'm beat." Ray told the group.

Egon rose from his chair.

"Professor Spengler." Kylie said, "We'll keep Doctor Spengler in our prayers."

"Thank you." Egon replied.

Ray drove Egon's car back to the firehouse where both men had crashed. Ray, in the sleeping quarters in Eduardo's bed and Egon in his old lab.

Egon had found Echo's dress laying on the bed when he had turned on the lights that day. He sat down at the foot of the bed and tenderly stroked the dress for awhile before picking it up to hold in his hands, much like Kylie had done with Eduardo's pillow. He remembered rocking back and forth with it unable to even cry anymore. That is how Janine found him when she came in for work.

"Egon?"

Egon looked up from Echo's dress to see Janine in the doorway. She crossed the room quickly to squat down in front of Egon, placing her hands on his knees.

"Janine?"

Janine smiled at Egon. "Yes. I'm here and I've taken care of everything. You need to sleep or you won't do Echo any good. Do you understand?"

Egon turned his face away from Janine, but he knew she was right. He couldn't stay up 24/7 anymore and needed rest. Janine got up and turned down the bed for him. As she was untying his shoes and helping him off with his jacket and vest, Janine explained what she had done.

"I called the Metropolitan Opera to let them know about Doctor Spengler tonight. I called your neighbor. They will watch the house for you, pick up the mail, and feed Echo's reptiles while you are here. I also set up a fund at Juilliard School of Music in her name for those who would like to make contributions in lieu of flowers and cards. Winston will be here Monday evening with Oscar. Winston has to pick Oscar up from Sydney, Australia where Oscar is conducting the orchestra there. I even called Echo's work, but you are going to have to go down there Monday morning to speak to Doctor Pla personally. I really hate that man."

Egon nodded his thanks to Janine as he untied his bow tie and handed it to her. Janine took his jacket, shoes, tie, and vest and placed them into the locker. She paused at the door before she left.

"Egon?"

"Yes, Janine."

"I'm sure Echo will get better."

"I do hope so."

Janine wished him a good day's sleep, turned out the lights, closed the door, and left the room.

Egon had not slept very well that day. Tossing and turning he was unable to settle down. He had been awakened by Ray shaking him early on Saturday evening.

"Egon it's okay. Wake up." Ray was telling him.

"What?" Egon asked half awake.

"You've been crying out Echo's name for the last ten minutes. Echo is fine. You can relax." Ray told his friend.

Egon sat up in bed. He had been dreaming about his daughter on the operating table when her heart had stopped.

"Sorry Ray." Egon said swinging his legs out from under the covers.

"It's fine. I know how you feel."

Egon looked at Ray. How could he have forgotten? Ray had lost his sister recently. She had been involved in a car accident. When the police had gotten to the scene she was still alive but badly hurt. Ray had been called and had met her at the accident scene. She had told Ray that she loved him before she had lost consciousness. By the time the ambulance had gotten her to the hospital she was gone. Ray hadn't been the same for awhile until he had come to terms with his sister's death last month. Now he was having to relive it with his niece.

"Oh, Ray. I'm sorry. I forgot." Egon told him.

Ray just waved his hand at Egon. "It's water under the bridge. Come on and get up. If I can borrow your car I'll drop you off at the hospital on the way to work."

Egon rose from the bed. "That's fine Ray, I just need to take a shower and find an old jumpsuit or something. I can't wear this wrinkled suit." Egon said, waving his hand to indicate his shirt and pants that he had just slept in.

"No worries. Janine sent Louis to your house and he brought back a suitcase for you." Ray told him as he exited the room. "Smart woman, that Janine is. More than we give her credit for."

Egon agreed. After Egon had showered and changed, they left Roland and Garret in charge at the firehouse. Garrett had been released Saturday afternoon after he had received his new stitches and Roland had driven him back to the firehouse in Ecto-2. Garrett gave Egon a change of clothes for Kylie in a bag. She wasn't going to leave the hospital until Eduardo did. Ray drove Egon to the hospital and dropped him off at the front doors. Ray promised to be back after closing his store at midnight.

After stopping in and seeing Eduardo and giving Kylie her clothes, Egon went into Echo's room to see Dana and Peter still there keeping vigil. Egon thanked them as they left for the night. Egon then settled down for the night in an armchair that he pulled over to his daughter's bed. He must have fallen asleep as he was awaken to someone gently rocking his shoulder and calling his name.

"Professor Spengler?"

Thinking it was midnight and Ray was back, Egon had been surprised to open his eyes and see Daniel standing before him, violin in hand.

"What? How? When did you get here? Who let you in? It's after visiting hours?" Egon questioned the young man as he raised his head off of the hospital bed where he had placed it a couple of hours earlier.

"Sorry Professor Spengler. I know it's late, but I had to come see Echo. I told the staff that I was her cousin and had come all the way from Scotland overnight. I do hope you don't mind."

Egon smiled at Daniel and indicated for him to take a seat. Daniel immediately went to Echo's right side. After pulling up an armchair and setting his violin on the floor he took Echo's right hand in his.

"I'm so sorry lassie." Daniel spoke to Echo. Turning to face Egon, Daniel explained why he was there.

"Echo was supposed to be singing in the chorus at the 'Met' tonight for Madam Butterfly. I was playing in the orchestra. When I got there at six thirty for the call, Echo wasn't there yet. I know that sometimes she runs late because of work and school, but today was Saturday and everyone there knew something wasn't right. At six forty-five we were all gathered together and given the news that Doctor Spengler had been involved in an accident and was in a coma. We were told we could make donations in her name to a fund set up at Juilliard School of Music in lieu of flowers and cards. I was shocked to learn this, as was everyone else there too. We knew we couldn't cancel the show and had to go on. Before the start of the show General Manager, Peter Gelb, announced to the audience what had happened and dedicated the performance to Doctor Spengler and wished her a speedy recovery."

Egon nodded his head at Daniel. "How did you know to come here? Should I be concerned about others coming?" he asked.

"No. Professor Spengler. I didn't tell anyone when I found out. Echo needs her privacy to get better. Janine told me when I called the firehouse right before going on to perform." Daniel replied.

Taking his left hand and replacing a lock of Echo's hair back in place Daniel told Echo, "You need a haircut lassie."

Egon was puzzled. Why would Janine have told Daniel where his daughter was? He was only a friend, not family. Egon questioned Daniel about it.

"Because of my relationship with your daughter," was Daniel's reply.

"Relationship?" Egon thought as he narrowed his eyes and tilted his head. What relationship? Egon was worried that Echo hadn't told him everything about Daniel. He knew that she was friends with Daniel and liked him as a musician, but Echo had never mentioned anything beyond that. Was Echo in a relationship with Daniel and couldn't tell him? Was it something beyond just friendship? Echo had kept the secret from him about seeing her mother die. Was Echo keeping another secret from him? Egon had to know what was going on.

"Daniel. I'm sorry if this comes out personal, but are you in a sexual relationship with my daughter? You do know that she is under the age of twenty-one, don't you?"

"Oh no! Professor Spengler, it's nothing like that. I was just going to ask Echo tonight if I could 'court' her." replied Daniel, clearly taken back by what Egon had said to him. "I come from an old upbringing. No sexual intercourse before marriage. Trust me, I haven't touched your daughter."

Egon apologized to Daniel for jumping to conclusions before he had all of the facts. What kind of scientist was he? Jumping to a conclusion before he had conducted his experiment? When Ray had showed up an hour later Egon spoke to him about it.

"You are not a scientist right now Egon, you are a father," Ray pointed out to him.

Egon, Ray, and Daniel had stayed at the hospital until Sunday morning when Peter and Dana had returned. Between the five of them they devised a schedule to each have a turn to stay with Echo. The attending doctor had come in when they had been making their schedule, and told them that he could move Doctor Spengler to a private room that had a fold out couch to make it easier for them all. Egon agreed, and Echo had been moved later that day.

Egon opened his eyes and stretched his arms above his head. As he stood up to turn the shower off he remembered what he had gone through on Monday morning at the University.

President Lee C. Bollinger, Doctor Pla, and Doctor Spengler's fellow teachers had been there for the meeting. Egon updated the facility on Echo's progress and then Doctor Pla had opened his mouth to speak.

"Doctor Spengler will just have to take my class again next semester Professor Spengler. I just can't go around playing favorites."

Egon had been upset by Doctor Pla's reply, but before he could tell him what he thought of him President Bollinger had spoken.

"I'm surprised at you Doctor Pla. I've known Professor Spengler and Doctor Spengler for a couple of years now. If any of their students need help, they both find the time out of their busy schedules to help. Even if it involves staying late or working weekends when there is no school. Their students have reported nothing bad to me. Only good things." President Bollinger pointed his finger at Doctor Pla and with an accusing tone continued. "You on the other hand have had students complaining to me about your teaching methods right and left. The students tell me how you can't make time for them around their schedules. Doctor Pla 'YOU' are treading on dangerous ground!" President Bollinger dropped his hand. "Doctor Pla." he said more gently. "I have always sided with you because I have always believed that the teacher was right. Now I'm not sure I believe that anymore."

Egon was surprised to hear this from President Bollinger. Here he was thinking that he had to turn two men to his cause and now he had one on his side without even trying.

"Professor Spengler." President Bollinger said. "I am going to graduate Doctor Spengler this afternoon. Doctor Pla's class was only a technicality that she had to take so that it could be on paper. I have reviewed Doctor Spengler's grades and papers. In my opinion she has not only passed Doctor Pla's class, Doctor Spengler really should be the one teaching it."

Doctor Pla made to open his mouth, but President Bollinger had pointed his finger at him and told him to be quiet. The whole room had erupted in applause at that and the meeting was adjourned.

Egon turned the shower off and stepped out to grab a towel on the rack nearby. As he was finishing drying himself off he could hear running footsteps on the stairs. Quickly wrapping the towel around his waist, two young ten year old twins burst into the bathroom.

"Uncle Egon! Uncle Egon!" they hollowed. "Mama wants you."

"The hospital called." the one said.

"You need to get down there right away." the other one finished.

"Sandy! Harry! You didn't just barge in on Egon did you?" Janine's voice could be heard from below.

"No Mama." they hollered back and disappeared out the bathroom door running back down the stairs.

Egon was worried now. Echo must have taken a turn for the worse. Swallowing the bile that had risen in his throat, Egon exited the bathroom and went to his old lab. Quickly dressing into a brown suit without a vest this time, Egon went downstairs. Egon let Janine know where he was going as he tied his tie on the way down the stairs. Grabbing his overcoat Egon headed out the door. Janine and the twins told him that all would work out for the best as he left the firehouse.

Putting on his overcoat, Egon walked quickly up Varick Street heading for Canal Street and the subway station. He remembered how upset Oscar had been on Monday evening when Winston and him had arrived in town. It was all Peter could do to keep Oscar away from the containment unit. Oscar thought that if he could fight the demonic entity, that had hurt Echo, he would feel better. Ray and Peter had finally convinced Oscar to let his anger out in another way. Oscar had gone upstairs and beat his frustrations out on the piano by playing Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C# minor very loud. Oscar and Echo had grown up together. Two years apart in age, Oscar had been the closest friend that Echo had. Almost like a brother to her. They had both gone to Juilliard together, although Echo had entered first and Oscar had followed three years later at the age of eighteen. Echo was a child prodigy. She had been accepted into Juilliard at the young age of thirteen and Columbia at seventeen, right before she had graduated from Juilliard. Echo had done five years worth of work in two and a half years for her Doctorate of Science Degree at Columbia while also working there. This was not unusual for Egon to accept as he had started college at fifteen at Columbia and had graduated with seventeen degrees.

Egon walked down the subway stairs and slid his Metro card through the slot. Walking through the turnstile, Egon stood waiting for the #1 train to take him uptown.

Egon felt the wind direction change on the platform and looked to his right as he heard the train coming up the dark tunnel. The train slowed down and finally came to a stop. When the doors opened Egon climbed aboard and found a seat. Egon knew that he had a ways to go before his next stop. He would have to transfer at Times Square to take another train to Grand Central Station. Eduardo had been released Monday morning and Kylie had taken him back to the firehouse to recuperate. Egon remembered how after Winston and Oscar had arrived they had all sat down again to revise the schedule for the hospital. There was now seven people including Oscar, Dana, and Daniel to keep watch over Echo.

Peter, Dana, and Oscar, along with Winston and Daniel, had divided up the morning and afternoon times between them. Ray had taken the graveyard shift and Egon had taken the evening shift, often staying up with Ray when he arrived at one in the morning.

On Tuesday morning the doctors had run an electroencephalogram (EEG), which records the brain's activity by measuring electrical currents through the brain, and a Spect or Xenon test, an enhanced CT scan to test for blood flow and metabolic activity within the brain, to see if Doctor Spengler had any brain function. The tests came back positive. Echo had brain function but she also had slight swelling on her brain because of her earlier operation. Doctor Henry Moyle had come back and with Egon's permission, his daughter had undergone a ventriculostomy. Doctor Moyle made a small hole in Echo's skull and inserted a plastic drain tube to remove the cerebrospinal fluid from inside the brain, helping to relieve the pressure that had been building up.

"Everything went well Professor Spengler." Doctor Moyle had told him after the surgery. "I want you and your friends to talk to Doctor Spengler every chance you get. Sing to her. Play for her. Doctor Spengler needs to hear conversation and music to get her brain to start thinking again. I believe it will help."

Egon's train was stopping now at his connection. Egon got off and took another train to Grand Central Station and then transferred one last time to head uptown.

Tuesday afternoon Dana had brought her cello to the hospital and had practiced her music for the NY Philharmonics. Doctor Moyle told Egon it didn't matter what they did or said as long as it was being done. Daniel played his violin for her and Oscar brought a keyboard to practice on. Ray had chosen to read to his niece. Ray brought along books from his store that he was reading and would read them out loud to Echo. Peter would read the local newspaper or his paranormal investigation notes to her. Winston, read his Air Force flight manuals. And he, Egon, had sung to his daughter. Egon who was embarrassed to sing in public, softly sang every song he knew into his daughter's ear.

Egon had noticed a difference in his daughter's demeanor. The tight lines that had been in Echo's face had started to diminish. Her whole body was starting to soften and be less tense. The nurses even noticed it, when they came to change her bed and bathe her. The nurses had told Egon that the whole floor felt different with the music that was being played for her.

Egon had sworn early Friday evening that Echo had moved her hand under his touch ever so slightly, but when he tried to get her to do it again, nothing happened. Egon figured he had imagined it and said nothing.

The train was slowing down now. This was Egon's stop. Getting off with the rest of the passenger's at 96th Street and Lexington, Egon walked three blocks west and two blocks north to Mount Sinai Hospital and the news that awaited him there.

Egon walked through the front doors, greeting the security guard as he always did each day, heading for the elevators.

"Evening, Barry."

"Evening, Professor."

Egon pressed the up button and waited for the elevator to come down to the ground floor. Taking off his overcoat, Egon was getting worked up over what he was going to find when he got to his daughter's room. What was so bad that the nurses had called the firehouse for? As Egon placed his coat over his arm he could only imagine the worst things in his mind as the doors to the elevators opened up. Egon stepped in and pushed the button to the neurosurgical ward, his daughter's floor. The suspense was killing him. He all but bolted out of the doors when they opened onto Echo's floor. He went to the nurses' station first, as it was before Echo's room anyways.

"Someone called me?" Egon asked the nurse on duty.

"Yes, Professor Spengler. Doctor Moyle wants to see you. I'll page him." said the nurse as she picked up the phone and called Doctor Moyle's name over the intercom to come to the nurses' station.

Doctor Moyle came out of Echo's room down the hall from the nurses station. As Doctor Moyle started to walk towards the nurses' station he saw why the nurses had called him. Doctor Moyle stopped in his tracks and beckoned for Egon to join him.

"Professor Spengler! I'm so glad you're here. I have good news. Come." Doctor Moyle said as he turned around and walked back into his daughter's room.

Egon quickly walked the short distance to Echo's room. His heart was doing somersaults. Good news Doctor Moyle had said. As Egon walked into the room he stopped dead. Doctor Moyle was checking over his daughter as Daniel was standing in a corner of the room. Daniel saw him and rushed over.

"Professor Spengler. Echo's breathing on her own." Daniel told him.

Sure enough as Egon looked, the ventilator that Echo had been on since the accident a week ago lay silent in the corner. On a tray, on the hospital bed, lay the endotracheal tube that had been placed down Echo's throat to help her breathe. Egon also noticed that the catheter in her left arm had been removed. Only her central line remained.

Doctor Moyle took the stethoscope out of his ears and wrapped it up before placing it into his lab coat's pocket.

"Start reducing her fluid rate in an hour." he told the nurse helping him.

Doctor Moyle turned to face Egon. "Professor Spengler come." he beckoned Egon over to the bed. "Daniel here noticed that Doctor Spengler was breathing on her own without the ventilator doing it for her. He summoned the nurses who called me in. When I came down I could see her taking breaths between the ones that the ventilator was giving her. When I removed her from the ventilator she was breathing on her own and swallowing too. I made the decision to pull her endotracheal tube and as you can see, so far so good. No swelling of her throat to prevent a relapse. She is still unconscious but is responsive to stimuli. We have to give Doctor Spengler some more time but I am pleased with her progress."

"That is good news Professor Spengler." Daniel said taking Egon's hands into his and giving them a squeeze. "If you don't mind I am going to go make some calls to let President Goldman and General Manager Peter Gelb know. Excuse me."

Egon watched as Daniel all but skipped down the hall to go outside to use his cell phone.

"Professor Spengler. I need to go for now. Please spend as much time as you can talking to your daughter tonight. I know it will help bring her around." Doctor Moyle said as he and the nurse excused themselves and left the room, the nurse taking the tray with the endotracheal tube with her.

Egon tossed his overcoat onto the couch and crossed over to his daughter's left side, pulling up the armchair as he had done the whole week. Sitting down he took a hold of Echo's left hand in his. As he squeezed it he could feel Echo pull away slightly. So he hadn't imagined it yesterday! Egon smiled as he watched his daughter's face and her breathing. It wasn't forced anymore. Echo was relaxed and calm. Releasing a breath he didn't know he had been holding in Egon felt relieved. His daughter was getting better. The tension that was in Egon's body was being released. Egon bent over his daughter's ear and started singing softly as he had done many nights to her.

Tonight he was singing songs from the musical "Children of Eden." When Daniel reappeared in the doorway of Echo's room Egon was just finishing the song, "The Hardest Part of Love".

"Good choice Professor Spengler." Daniel said.

Egon had gotten over being embarrassed by the second night of singing to his daughter and the nurses telling him that he was good.

Daniel gathered his violin from the chair where he had placed it and kissed Echo on her forehead, wishing her well, and bid Egon goodbye.

Both Egon and Daniel noticed that when Daniel's lips had touched Echo's forehead that she had moved slightly.

"I believe she will pull through this Professor Spengler. Call me if you need to." Daniel had said as he left for the night.

Ray came at one in the morning to find out the good news too. Egon, not wanting to leave Echo's side had not called the firehouse to let the others know. Egon gave Ray permission to leave and let the others know what was going on. Ray decided it was too late to call on the phone and had left to take the news to the team directly.

After Ray had left, Egon placed his head down onto Echo's hospital bed. He was tired. It was one thirty in the morning. Egon had only meant to close his eyes for a moment. Someone running their hands through his ponytail had awoken him. Who was doing this? The nurses didn't wake him up this way. They usually shook him gently and called his name. Half asleep, his brain wasn't working properly. Wait. Someone had always woken him up this way, many years ago.

Egon opened his eyes and sat straight up. No one was in front of him so he turned to look behind him. There she was.

"Hello, darling."

Egon blinked. It couldn't be, but it was. Impossible. But there she stood none the less.

"Eden?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes. It's me."

Egon's mind was racing. What was Eden doing here? Was he dead? He didn't think so. Then he remembered what Peter had said to him.

"Eden. It's good to see you, I think. What is it that you want?"

"Egon, I need for you to forgive yourself about my death. I need to move on, but you and Echo are holding me back." Eden said as she walked over to the hospital bed where Echo lay.

"I love you Eden. I loved our unborn child. I can't let you go. You left me too soon."

"I love you too, Egon. I am so sorry that you feel this way. Our child is safe in the maker's hands. If I could have come back to you I would have in a heart beat, but it was my time to go. You have raised our daughter well. I couldn't be any prouder."

Eden sat down on the end of the hospital bed facing her husband. She was just feet away. Egon wanted to reach out and hold her.

"How can I let you go? I am afraid that by doing so I will forget you." Egon pleaded with her.

"Egon look into your heart. Remember all the times we spent together. Hold them close. You have always been that special blend of happiness and love for me. I will forever cherish those precious moments together in my heart and I know that you will too."

"I wish I could. I have been so long without your touch." Egon reached out to Eden with his left hand. Eden took his hand in hers. Sighing, Egon continued. "I miss you so much. I just want things back the way they were before the accident."

"Egon, darling, do you know what the rarest part of love is?"

"No."

"It's the letting go." Eden released Egon's hand. "You have to move on with your life. Echo has to move on too. I need to move on. We are all afraid of change, but without it nothing would get done. I miss not being with you too. Egon, know that I am with you always in your heart. I can never leave you there. Even though my body may not be here on earth with you, I am never far from you in spirit. Please find it in your heart to let me go."

Egon ran his hand down the left side of his face where a tear had slid out from his eye. How could he do this alone? He wished Eden could stay, but knew that was impossible. What could he say to her now? Eden must have sensed his doubts because she turned to face Echo.

"Echo, sweetheart. Wake up. Your father needs you."

Egon turned to look and saw that his daughter was trying to open her eyes. As Egon watched his daughter his wife spoke to him.

"When Echo's heart stopped on the operating table she was sent to my realm. I didn't have a choice to come back to earth but Echo did. Echo was able to choose to stay with me or come back and stay with you. I explained to our daughter that I needed to be released by both of you so that I could go on with my afterlife. Echo chose to save me and come back to you."

Echo's eyes opened now. She squeezed her father's hand and tried to speak but her throat was dry. Giving up she used her right hand to place her thumb of her open palm, fingers spread apart, to tap her jaw near her chin. The American Sign Language sign for mother.

"Echo, you remembered what I taught you. I am so proud."

Egon looked at his wife, she was smiling. Eden had taught Echo to sign long before she could talk. Echo was so much like her mother. Maybe he could let Eden go. He had Echo and in her lived her mother. Egon nodded. Yes he could do this.

"Eden?"

"Yes, Egon."

"What do I need to do?"

"Egon, find the words in your heart. They have always been there. Tell me it is going to be O.K. if I leave you both. You will never forget me. Just promise me one thing."

"Anything, Eden."

"Please hold a Christmas Party each year from now on. Christmas was always my favorite time of year and I noticed that after I died you and Echo never held another one at the house."

Egon nodded his head. Eden was right. Echo and him never held another Christmas party after Eden was gone from their lives. He would rectify that today.

Egon took a deep breath. This was it. He could never see his wife again in the flesh but he knew that she was always and forever in his heart.

"Eden. I love you. I understand that it wasn't my fault that you died. Echo and I will go on and remember you always." Egon broke down in tears. He wanted to say something else but couldn't.

Echo squeezed his hand. Egon looked into his daughter's face. Somehow Echo was wanting to tell him or her mother something. Egon released his daughter's hand. Echo positioned her right American Sign Language letter 'I' hand with her palm facing left and with her thumb touched her chest.

"I." said Eden.

Echo then linked both hands of her thumbs and index fingers of the American Sign Language sign for the number 9 together. She then opened and separated them sideways.

"Release." said Eden.

Echo made the last sign. Pointing her index finger at her mother.

"You." said Eden.

Egon looked at Eden. Now he knew what to say to her. Smiling he copied Echo's example but instead of signing he spoke the words.

"Eden. I release you."

Eden started to change. Her blue pant suit with cream colored blouse and brown ankle boots, that she had worn for her interview on 9/11, started to sparkle and dance with light. Echo, watching, smiled. She knew what was coming next. Egon, watching, was a little taken back until he felt his daughter's hand squeeze his. Eden's clothing changed in the blink of an eye to a beautiful white empire gown with long sleeves. Eden looked more beautiful than the day that Egon had married her.

"Thank you." she said and was gone.


	13. Epilogue

Epilogue

It was now three months after the accident in Central Park. A woman, in white, stood on the walkway in front of the house. It was lightly snowing that day as she saw that all the lights were on in the house. In the driveway, sat Egon's car along with three others. Another three cars were parked in front of the house in the street. The day was Christmas Eve and there was a party going on inside.

The Spengler's had invited Peter, Dana, and Oscar Venkman. Janine and Louis Tully were there with their twins Sandy and Harry. Garrett had come with Roland, while Kylie had driven Eduardo, as his shoulder was still healing. Eduardo was out of his sling after four weeks of being in it. Now he was attending physical therapy so that he could recover fully. The physical therapist had told him it would take several months to be back where he was before the accident.

Winston had come with Ray. Winston was staying at Ray's place while he was in town. Winston had also taken some time off and had taught Egon how to drive. Egon had to drive Echo to her physical therapy appointments, as Echo's leg was still in a cast and she couldn't drive. Echo was also on leave from the University until she could get out of her cast. Echo still played her clarinet and piano in concert though. The last person to arrive at the party, besides her, was Daniel McQuarrie. Egon had welcomed him with open arms. Egon was indebted to Daniel. After all, Daniel was the one that had noticed that Echo was breathing on her own that Saturday afternoon in September. As the woman moved up the walkway to the front door she could hear laughter and music. Climbing the four steps to the front door she stopped. This was going to be hard on her and everyone at the party but she had to go through with it. Letting out a breath she walked through the door.

Off to her left was the living room. A Christmas tree was set up in the corner of the room and it had presents underneath it. Most of the guests were in this room or inthe kitchen right next to it. No one had seen her come in so she hurried towards the basement door. Walking down the steps into the basement she could hear the party noises getting softer. She needed to do this one thing before rejoining the others upstairs. As she went through the door to Egon's workplace, the woman hurried over to the Steinway Grand Piano. Taking a card from her pocket in her dress she placed it onto the music stand of the piano. She could see that two sleeping bags were rolled out underneath the piano. Most likely for Sandy and Harry as the Tully's would stay over for Christmas the next day instead of driving the long way home to Queens. The woman smiled to herself as she looked at the card. Five words were written in her own handwriting on the card. She then turned and left the room, starting back up the stairs, eager to join the party.

As she reached the landing, she could see Egon, Janine and the twins in the kitchen ahead of her. Egon was arranging vegetables onto a tray, while Janine and the twins were putting candles into a birthday cake. Twenty blue and white candles were going into that cake. Soon it would be Echo's birthday at 7:45 p.m. How she remembered that day. She was happy for Echo. Not only had Echo pulled through her ordeal, but there had been no long lasting effects or permanent brain damage at all. Ray had said it was a 'Miracle' while Egon was relieved to hear the good news along with Daniel.

Daniel had asked Echo if he could 'court' her on Sunday, after Echo had come out of her coma. Daniel had arrived early Sunday morning, grinning from ear to ear, with the news from Janine who had called him early that morning. Echo had been a little taken back at first but had agreed. This would be their first Christmas together as a couple. Even Eduardo had gotten in on the band wagon as he proposed to Kylie that evening at the party. Dropping down on one knee and presenting Kylie with a small box he told her what he thought of her from his heart.

"Kylie, I love you more than life itself. I would be greatly honored if you would share that love with me and be here by my side always." Eduardo told her.

Kylie screamed with joy. Hugging and kissing him as she took the ring and placed it upon her finger.

"No hugging Kylie." Echo had told her, but Kylie didn't listen.

The woman went next to Egon's bedroom and went inside. She needed a few moments alone before going on to the party. She knew Egon wouldn't mind. The woman stood there for a moment before she broke down in tears. The room was the same as when she had seen it last. Nothing moved, nothing changed. She had known that today was going to be hard on her, but she never realized how much. Collecting herself and wiping the tears from her eyes, she knew that she had no choice. She would have to face the music sooner or later.

Christmas music was now being played. The woman left Egon's bedroom and stood by his closed door facing the living room watching the festivities before her. Echo was playing her Otto Benjamin cello with Daniel on his violin. The "Batta" had been returned to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Tuesday after the accident. Egon and Dana had taken it there. It was safer in the museum's hands than sitting at the firehouse. Also Egon hadn't known, at that point, what was going to happen with his daughter. The woman could see that Echo was having problems with her positioning of the cello. As her right knee was unable to bend, because of the cast, Echo was trying her best to hold the cello with her inside thigh. Being a 'Spengler' she was undaunted and was determined to make it work.

Echo was dressed in a pale blue one shoulder gown. The floor length dress was satin with a chiffon overlay. The bodice had a chiffon front drape across her breasts extending to form a sheer shawl over her left shoulder to trail onto the floor behind her. Ray had bought her this dress for her birthday. She looked so much like her mother. Her long hair pulled over her right shoulder, covering her bald spot from her ventriculostomy, and to keep it away from the cello's strings as well. Daniel and Echo were playing, "Away in a Manger." The woman could see that as Echo used vibrato on the notes the whole cello would move. This wasn't right but there was nothing Echo could do about it because of her leg. Finally the cello moved so much that it rocked out of the stop she had for it on the floor.

"Great Joy in the Morning!" Echo cried. This had been her mother's saying when she was mad at something.

Egon came out of the kitchen carrying the vegetable tray, which he sat down in front of Ray and Winston.

"Here let me help you." Egon told his daughter.

"I don't need help." Echo told her father, mad at the world. "I need this stupid cast off!"

"Soon Echo." Ray told her. "Why don't you two take a break for a while."

"Yes, Echo." Daniel said, as he brought his violin down from his chin. "It's just too hard for you right now."

"You think so?" Echo retorted.

Echo looked at Daniel. A thin sly smile coming to the corners of her lips. "I'll bet you that I can play your violin better then you can play my cello."

Daniel, never one to back down from a challenge, accepted. Roland offered Daniel his chair. Daniel sat down and Echo handed her cello off to him. As Echo took Daniel's violin, Daniel was trying to hold Echo's cello between his legs and had everyone roaring with laughter, including Daniel himself. Daniel, looked like a pregnant man trying to give birth to a watermelon. Echo on the other hand placed Daniels violin under her chin. After finding where her fingers needed to go for the pitches, she played the Christmas song "Good King Wenceslas."

"Hey! No fair!" shouted Daniel.

"Echo's got you beat Daniel." Winston told him trying not to laugh.

"Yea, way to go Doctor Spengler." Eduardo shouted out with Kylie sitting on his right knee.

Egon went over to Daniel and took Echo's cello away from him before he could embarrass himself anymore. As Egon walked over to place the cello back into its velvet box he said to Daniel.

"Echo does know how to play three different instruments Daniel. At Juilliard she was also taught a couple more. But I will give you this much, you are much better at the violin than the cello any day."

"Thanks little lassie." Daniel said to Echo. "In Scotland where I went to school I didn't get the chance to play different instruments."

Echo smiled at Daniel, handing his violin back to him. She said in a Scottish brogue imitating him, "I'll teach you another time laddie."

Everyone roared with laughter. The woman even found herself laughing along with the others.

"Who's ready for cake?" Janine asked as she carried the tray in that held the birthday cake.

Plates of food were cleared away from the coffee table so that Janine could put Echo's birthday cake down. Louis came with the matches and lit the candles.

While Daniel played 'Happy Birthday' on his violin and everyone sang, the woman could see that the cake was square with writing on it in the style of a diploma. Where the name should be on a diploma was the words Happy Birthday Echo. Egon had the cake made for her. Egon had not told his daughter that she had graduated and had sworn everyone there at the party to secrecy.

Echo saw the diploma cake and looked at her father, head tilted and eyes narrowed. When the singing stopped, Egon handed Echo her diploma from Columbia University.

"Happy Birthday, Echo." He told her. "Make a wish and blow out your candles."

Stunned Echo looked to her father for an explanation. He mouthed the words "I'll explain it later" to her.

Echo turned towards her cake and blew out the candles and everyone cheered. As Janine was cutting the cake and Louis was taking the burnt candles out, the twins came in front of Echo and asked a question.

"Echo. What did you wish for?" the one said.

"Another cello?" the other one replied.

While the others laughed at the twins Echo smiled at them. Her birthday wish had come true three months prior, when she was laying in a hospital bed with her father at her side. Echo couldn't speak to the twins. She felt the need for her father right now. Still sitting in her chair, Echo placed her diploma by her chair's right side and closed her eyes, starting to rock herself back and forth. Before the woman could move, Egon seeing this, was immediately by Echo's side and knelt down beside his daughter. Taking Echo into his arms Egon stroked the back of her head, as Echo cried into Egon's shoulder. The woman knew it would take time for them both to heal and her heart went out to them. It wasn't easy for anyone.

"Mama? Why is cousin Echo crying?" the twins asked.

"Echo misses her mother." Janine said, handing them each a piece of cake. "Please go into the kitchen with your father and sit at the table for me while you eat."

"Yes mama." they said together, trotting along after Louis who lead the way.

Peter had gotten up while all this was going on. Going over to the Christmas tree and taking two small presents from underneath it, he approached Egon and Echo. Peter squatted down in front of the two of them.

"Egon. Echo. These were supposed to be for tomorrow, but I think that you both need them right now. I am hoping this will help with what you are going through." Peter said tenderly.

Echo pulled away from her father to accept the box that Peter was holding out to her. Egon turned around and sat down on the floor next to his daughter and accepted his box from Peter. Garrett tapped Egon on his shoulder. As Egon turned to look at Garrett, he saw that Garrett was offering him a handkerchief. Garrett nodded his head towards Echo and handed Egon the handkerchief. Placing Peter's box in his lap, Egon took the handkerchief, turned around, and handed it to his daughter.

"Thank you." she said, taking the handkerchief and wiping her eyes.

Egon and Echo unwrapped their boxes together. Echo, having opened hers first, dropped it onto the floor when she took the lid off and saw what was inside. Daniel, having given his seat back to Roland was putting his violin away at the time. Coming over to Echo, he bent down and picked up the box. Inside Daniel could see what had caused her to look frightened. On the top of a pink tissue paper lay a thin gold curved steel band. There were three lines of engraving in gray on it.

Eden Spengler

Edison Spengler

We will never forget

On one end of the band were the numbers 9/11. On the other end was a picture of two towers, side by side. Daniel was puzzled as to what the item he held in his hands was until he heard Peter talking.

"Egon. Echo. These are memorial bands for you both to wear on your wrists to remember and honor Eden and Edison."

"Thank you Peter." Egon said as he held up his band. The band reminded Egon of the Vietnam bands he had seen others wearing while in college. The students wore the bands to remember those who were missing in action. He didn't know that they were being made for victims of 9/11. Egon took the gold band and placed it upon his right wrist. Daniel, watching Egon, now knew what he needed to do. Gently taking Echo's right hand he reverently took the band from the box and placed it upon Echo's wrist. Daniel made sure that the names were facing towards Echo so she could always see her mother and brother.

Louis came back from the kitchen carrying a tray full of champagne flutes. As he was passing them around, Ray came behind him with champagne and sparkling cider. Egon, Echo, and the twins would drink the cider the woman knew. She felt a breeze rustle her hair. She knew her time was drawing to a close. How she wanted to stay at the party longer, but she knew she couldn't. She knew that either tonight or tomorrow morning Egon would find the card she had left for him. This had been the only thing that she had requested of her maker, that she leave in this house before she moved on with her life. Her maker had agreed to this one small token, as he knew that she was unable to leave anything at all for Egon. Those five words were from her heart. She would always cherish them and Egon forever. Five words to sum up her feelings for the man she loved.

Remember this, I love you.

"Time to go." said a voice in her ear.

"I know." was her reply.

She let out a sigh and moved away from the wall to walk up to the people at the party. Halfway there she stopped. She wasn't allowed to go any further. They would either see her or not. Her heart broke, thinking that those she loved wouldn't know that she was there. A tear slid down her face as she looked into the faces of the people she knew so well.

Echo looked up. Something was bothering her. Something was here. What was giving her the feeling that someone was trying to talk to her? As she looked up, she suddenly saw a woman appear out of thin air. Taking her father's shoulder with her right hand she squeezed it hard.

"Ouch! Echo, that hurt. What is wrong?" Egon asked his daughter.

Echo nodded towards her father's bedroom door. Egon looked and saw the woman too.

"Eden?" he asked.

Everyone having seen what was going on with Egon and Echo stopped talking. As one they all turned to see a woman standing before them. A spirit, dressed in white, with a radiant smile on her face. No one moved. Peter was the one to break the spell. Holding up his glass he said in a very loud voice.

"To Eden!"

"To Eden!" the others replied.

The woman smiled at them. How she loved them all and would miss them.

"I love you." she said and she was gone.


End file.
